Live, Laugh, and Love
by AsparagusZeTurkey
Summary: The sixth year of Hogwarts for Severus and the Maurauders, plus Lily, Tonks, and my OC charrie, Wren! SSOC, SB?, JPLE, RLNT. Rated M because it can be...and because it needs to be in places...Hope you enjoy it! Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Of Books and Bruises

**Disclaimer: **As much as I wish I own them, I don't own Severus, Sirius, James, Remus, and the rest of J.K. Rowling's wonderful and fantastic world.

_"Here I stand, __helpless and left for dead._

_Cleave your eyes, __so many days gone by._

_Easy to find what's wrong, __harder to find what's right."_

_Breaking Benjamin, -Dance With the Devil_

* * *

"Why can we never find any place to sit on this bloody train!?" Sirius demanded. "Six years, and we still never manage to find a completely empty compartment all to ourselves..."

"Nonsense, Sirius. We've always managed to find somewhere to sit." Remus said calmly, as he continued down the train with Sirius and James following.

James sighed, "But what'll we do if we have to...have to...sit in different compartments!?"

Sirius held up his hand in shock, "Then we'd...be APART! I can't stand the thought!" He burst into faked sobs, and James followed suit, both of them hanging off of each other for support in their 'misery', but mostly mirth. Their trunks clunked heavily along the long hallway, the sound stopping and starting as they paused at compartments to check if they were full.

"Found one." Remus called over his shoulder, having made his way to the end of the train. He walked into the empty compartment, save for the one person sitting by the window. "Mind if we sit here, Severus?" He asked with a smile.

The young Slytherin looked up startled, from the book he had been reading. He was silent for a moment, and shoved his long dark hair behind his ears with more force than necessary, then spoke. "You actually can stand to be in the same room with me?" He asked sarcastically.

Remus scowled at Severus. "I've told you my opinion about P--" He was cut off as Sirius poked him in the back to get him to move.

"C'mon Remus," He grinned, "Let us in. These trunks are heavy." Remus shifted to the side and Sirius came into the compartment, with James following closely. They both heaved their trunks up onto the rack and then collapsed on the seat. Remus followed suit, with considerably more grace and silence. Severus jumped to his feet angrily, setting the book beside him carefully beforehand.

"Get out." Severus snarled, glaring at them. "All of you."

Remus merely returned Severus' glare and sat down opposite him. "There's nowhere else to sit; the others are full."

Severus pointed at the door, fuming. "I don't care. Out."

Sirius glanced at James, who smirked, and then at Remus, who ignored him and stared out the window. He grinned, "You don't want to sit with us, Snivellus?" He asked quietly.

Severus hesitated, wondering if he should go find a seat elsewhere with some fellow Slytherins, then shook his head, "No. I was here first, and I'm asking you to leave. Now get."

James stood up from the seat and moved towards Severus so he couldn't get out of the small carriage they were in. Pulling out his wand, he flicked it and the door slid shut silently on well oiled hinges. Sirius pulled his wand out as well, and seeing Severus go for his, yelled, "Expelliarmus!"

Severus' wand flew out of his hand, and Sirius caught it, grinning. Twirling it, he then pocketed them both. James replaced his wand and advanced towards Severus, and as Severus turned to face him, Sirius tackled him. He grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back, rendering Severus completely defenseless. James came closer until he was practically nose to nose with Severus. Confident brown eyes met with wary dark ones for a long moment. Without warning, James grabbed Severus' shoulder with one hand, and rammed his other into his stomach.

Severus grunted as James' fist connected with him, and he doubled over, gulping like a fish as he tried to draw in air. He finally managed to look up at James, who was still grinning. "Stand up, Snivelly." James said.

Severus didn't think he could stand at all if Sirius wasn't supporting him by holding his arms. As if Sirius had heard his thoughts, he let go of Severus' arms. He crashed to the floor, and laid there, panting.

James kicked Severus over onto his back, and Severus winced again, but stared up at him. His dark eyes were full of anger and hatred, but there was also fear in them now. He glanced over at Sirius, and immediately jumped back up angrily.

Sirius was leafing through the book that Severus had had, and grinned as he got part way through it. The text suddenly stopped, as though the author still had to finish writing it. He closed the book to look at the cover, which was blank, and stared at it for several seconds. He looked up at Severus, "Writing a book Snivellus? About what?" He dangled the book in front of Severus tauntingly.

Severus made a lunge for the book, but was yanked back as James wrapped his arm around his neck from behind and pulled back. Sirius kept smiling and repeated his question, "What's it about?"

Yanking on James' arm, Severus quietly said, "Potions."

Sirius nodded, "Ah...typical of you."

"Put it down, you mangy mongr--cckk..." Severus began angrily, but James pulled even tighter, cutting off his air. Severus yanked at him arm, but couldn't move it. James was too strong.

Sirius tossed it up and down, and moved closer to Severus, "Don't call me that, you slimy git of a bastard." He seemed very angry now, and tossed the book up and down again for a moment, "What if I didn't? What if I got rid of it for you?" Sirius smiled nastily. Severus' eyes widened angrily, but he couldn't speak. He was still pulling on James' arm, and he was starting to feel lightheaded from the lack of oxygen.

Opening the window, Sirius stuck his head out and double-checked that no one else on the Hogwarts Express was looking out either. Then he made sure there weren't any Muggle buildings or people around. Pulling his head back in, he smiled wickedly at Severus and James. Severus' eyes were as wide as saucers, and, Sirius noted, his face wasn't pale anymore, but gaining color and turning red from James' grip.

"Cckkkk...no..." Severus managed to say, but he knew it was all in vain. Sirius had the book and wasn't being suffocated by James.

Sirius merely smiled, turned to the window, and carefully stuck the book out into the breeze. Then he tossed it, and it went flapping into some bushes, pages flying out of it as it fell.

Desperately, Severus made a final lunge for the book that he'd worked hard on all summer. James lurched forwards with him, and Severus' legs gave under him, and he went down, as pain and light exploded behind his eyes. James somehow kept his balance and was able to keep his arm hooked around Severus' neck, and was now suspending Severus by his throat so that his knees were a few inches from the ground.

The world was growing fuzzy and black around the edges for Severus, and he yanked and scrabbled at James' arm for some air, gulping sondlessly. James looked down, and seeing Severus panicking, let go.

Only Remus' keen eyes noticed the young boy riding a horse through the sparse woods, and watched silently as the boy turned in his saddle and stared at the book tearing apart in the air before it hit the ground. Shrugging it off, he turned to watch James, Severus and Sirius, and no one saw the boy start towards the place where the book had fallen.

Yet again, Severus crashed to the floor, gasping and choking as he drew in breath after breath of sweet fresh air.

Sirius stood in front of Severus, waiting patiently for him to recover. James once again blocked the door, sensing that Severus would probably attempt to get away from them.

Slowly, Severus pushed himself up onto his knees and arms and then sat back on his legs. He glared up at Sirius, intensely pissed that he'd thrown his book out of the window. Three months of hard work...and all for nothing.

Remus watched James with an unblinking gaze, and then turned to scrutinize Severus, who was now massaging his throat and grimacing. "Be careful, James. And you too, Sirius." With that, Remus returned to staring out the window at the scenery flashing by.

Without warning, Severus jumped up and made for the door, but James was ready. He grabbed Severus, and twisted his arm around behind his back. Severus winced, turned to pull away, and was released unexpectedly as James stepped out of the way and Sirius' fist connected with his face.

He flew backwards, towards James and the door, and tripped over James' outstretched foot. Just as he was about to connect painfully with the door, someone slid it open, and he crashed instead into someone's trunk right outside the door.

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Reply...please? It makes me happy! And this is my first eva fanfic, and my fingers have a mind of their own, so...help me smack some sense into them!! Thanks! 


	2. Chapter 2: The Hogwarts Express

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I do not own Severus, the Marauders, or any of J.K. Rowling's wizarding world. I DO, however, own Wren...so YAY for me!

Also, thankyou _Miss Jessica Riddle_ for replying, and Kudos to you for being the first! Your comment made me very happy!!

_"What about my problems?_

_The people try to solve them_

_I guess I'm under the weather_

_Since no one else belongs here, with me..."_

_Shiny Toy Guns, -We Are Pilots_

* * *

It took Severus a long moment to realize someone was crouched down beside him and waving their hand in front of his face. Blinking, he followed the hand up to the person's face. 

A girl his age was watching him worriedly with inquisitive blue eyes. She was already dressed in her school robes, and Severus felt his face burn with embarrassment as he realized that she was the owner of the trunk that he was now sprawled across. _On the positive side… _he thought bitterly, _the blood pooling from my nose hides the fact that I'm blushing furiously…_

"Are you okay?" The girl asked him.

"What?" He replied, still slightly dazed from the recent events.

"Are you okay?" She repeated patiently.

He nodded uncertainly, "I think so." He mumbled.

The girl stood, and offered him a hand. "Do you need help up?"

He shook his head and stood by himself, wishing he could disappear from the humiliating situation, but reached out and took her hand instinctively when the world lurched before his eyes. The girl smiled, and shifted her grip to his upper arm and escorted him back into the compartment. She pulled her trunk in after her, and then turned back to Severus, who had sat down in his seat again, and had raised his chin and pinched his nose to stop his nose bleed. "Do you mind if I sit in here with you?" She asked him.

Sirius and James recovered from the shock of someone being polite to Severus a moment later. James, for his part, sat down silently and stared at the floor. Remus watched the newcomer with polite interest, before pulling a book out of his sweater pocket, and becoming engrossed in it.

Sirius, however, smiled charmingly and stepped forwards so that he was in front of Severus. "Please; make yourself at home. I'm Sirius, and this is James, and that's Remus." He pointed to each of them in turn, who smiled and nodded, and then turned back to the girl. "Let me take that for you." He said, still smiling. _She's rather cute, albeit a little weird…_ he observed as the girl turned and stared at him for a long moment. "Ah…your trunk…" He reached out to take it, to get her to stop staring at him, but she didn't move, and continued to lean on it.

"Ah…so you're the Marauders…" She mused to herself, looking at them again with open curiosity. "I've heard of you." She smiled as she saw the startled looks on the said Marauders' faces. "I don't mean to be rude, but I _was_ talking to him." She pointed to Severus, who had been glaring out the window and muttering to himself.

"Who, Snivellus?" Sirius laughed, but stopped suddenly when the new girl raised an eyebrow. "Ah…He doesn't care." He shrugged, and sat down.

The girl didn't move still, and looked questioningly at Severus. "May I?" She asked again.

Severus stared at her for a long moment, and then shrugged. "Sure…" He muttered. He watched as the girl hefted her trunk, and placed it on the rack. He glanced at Sirius, and his eyes flicked down to where his wand was poking out of Sirius' pocket. Opening his mouth, he was about to ask for it back, then remembered his nose, and closed it again. It was better to wait. They gave it back eventually…

The girl hadn't missed Severus' fleeting expressions crossing his face, and followed his gaze to Sirius. Sitting down opposite the three Marauders, she smiled at Sirius, "Why do you have two wands, Sirius?" She asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Sirius blinked and glanced down at the wands, then slowly pulled them both out. Keeping his wand, he offered the other one to Severus, who grabbed it and used a spell to heal up his nose. "It's his…" Sirius muttered, long after that much had become obvious.

Severus scowled at Sirius, new hatred for him rising quickly. _I should just jinx the bastard now…_ Remus spoke, interrupting Severus' thoughts.

"What's your name then? And what year are you in, if you don't mind me asking. It's just; you look to be about our age, but I've never seen you around before." Remus frowned and looked her up and down, "You don't have a house either…" Sure enough, the girl's robes were devoid of the small patch announcing what house she was in.

She smiled, "Sorry. I'm Wren." She paused for a moment, and then continued, "I suppose you wouldn't know me. I've been home schooled, and my parents finally decided to send me to Hogwarts. They said I needed to get out in 'the real world'. I'm 16, and as for my house, the headmaster is going to have me sorted when we get to Hogwarts, before the feast. They were going to sort me with the first years, but Dumbledore suggested that I be sorted separately…said it would be hard enough for me in a new school without adding rumors and questioning from the students." Wren grinned, and then glanced at Severus. "Is Snivellus really your name? Only, you guys don't seem to get along, and…well…" She trailed off as Severus gave her a very angry look.

"It's Severus." He said shortly. "Call me whatever you want. Everyone else does." He threw Sirius another disgusted look, and turned to the window to glare at the scenery beyond it.

A few hours passed, as the train sped onwards towards it's destination. Wren and James talked for a while about school houses, and Sirius explained the house points to her. All but Severus discussed their favorite classes; James was best at Transfiguration, Sirius at Charms, Remus at Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Wren at Ancient Runes.

Eventually, a silence fell between them all, but it was a friendly one, and not the awkward kind. Remus returned to reading his book, which, oddly enough was about werewolves. Wren thought it both intriguing and amazing that Remus knew so much about them…he seemed to already know most of what was in the book, and was constantly grinning and shaking his head in a disbelieving way as he read.

James pulled out a wizard chess set from his trunk, and joined Sirius in a game, which became more and more violent as it continued on. Wren joined them to watch, sitting by James and leaning over his shoulder to watch, occasionally dropping hints for James. Sirius' bishop had just magnificently smashed one of James' rooks into three chunks, when Severus saw someone sit down next to him out of the corner of his eye.

He turned to see Wren sitting next to him. She was smiling, that odd smile from before, with one side of her mouth tilted up. But most of the smile was in her eyes, and Severus suddenly realized he was staring at her. He looked away quickly, and found himself flushing red again. No one else was paying attention though, and Wren was tactfully ignoring it.

"What?" He finally snapped, after the silence stretched out between them. He glared at her, and immediately felt slightly guilty for it. She hadn't done anything to him; in fact, she'd helped him, unconsciously or not.

"Remus tells me you're rather good at Potions. Is that right?" She asked. Severus looked at her closely, wondering if she was teasing him, or if she was going to embarrass him. She seemed sincere enough, but Severus had learned from experience that that didn't mean anything.

"What's it to you?" He sneered at her, suddenly wanting to make her angry so she'd just leave him alone. _Can't she tell that I don't want to talk right now?_

"It's just, I barely passed my O.W.L.s last year, being home-schooled and all, and I never really was that good at them. I was wondering if you could help me? I never understand why you need to add unicorn hairs early in the potions, and add other ingredients in specific orders…" She trailed off, and then asked, "Does the Potions professor explain things well in his class?" Wren grinned, "My grandfather taught me most of my Potions, and he'd fall asleep halfway through it, or forget what he was saying and just jump back in at a random point; regardless if I'd already done that part, or was farther behind than that. And the books I studied from didn't explain things well either. They expected you to know how to tell the difference between beetle eyes and horsefly eggs, and to know when to powder mandrake roots and when not to." Now it was Wren's turn to blush. "Sorry…I ramble sometimes. Get carried away with my mouth."

She tucked her hair behind her ear, and it promptly fell forwards again. "I swear…" She muttered, talking to herself it seemed, and pulled out a hair band from her pocket, and quickly tied it back from her face. "There. Now I can think." She fell silent, and crossed one leg over the other before resting her elbow on her knee, and her chin in her hand.

Severus frowned as she spoke, mentally listing the things she'd asked and talked about, the way he did with everything. "Well…" He started, and then fell silent again. Wren waited patiently for him to continue, her eyes never straying from his face. "You need to add the unicorn hairs at the beginning of any potion, because if you add them in the middle or at the end, they warp the properties of the other ingredients. Unicorns are magical creatures. Like how they can purify water with their horns?" He paused to see if Wren was following, and she nodded. "It's the same sort of thing. So if you add them at the beginning, it won't mess up the ingredients that you add after it. That's also why you have to add ingredients in certain orders. Otherwise, they can change other things in it. And some things you have to add together so that they don't react with each other…" He stopped for breath.

Wren grinned, "Now, if someone had just explained that to me before, it would have made sense." She shook her head and smiled to herself, and then resumed listening to Severus.

"As for the Potions professor, Slughorn, well...he just follows the books. He hardly knows anything about potions. He probably knows about as much as us." Severus fell silent, having answered her questions. _I just said more to this girl than I've said all summer put together..._ He mused, amazed.

"So…could you help me then? It sounds like I'll have an even tougher time this year with potions. At least my grandfather knew a bit about them." She looked at him hopefully.

Severus looked sideways at her, "…You know…" He finally said, "People won't like you if you hang out with me. You shouldn't even be talking to me."

Wren smiled warmly, "I believe I choose my friends. Other people will just have to deal with that fact, and move on with life."

Severus couldn't help but let a small smile flit across his face as the word 'friends' passed Wren's lips. There was a brief silence between them then, but it was soon broken.

"So…those beetle eyes and horsefly eggs…how do you tell them apart?" Wren asked, eager to carry on a conversation with this strange boy.

Severus let another small smile show, and began explaining the differences between the two. Sirius and James were arguing about the finer points of broom flying tactics, completely oblivious to the fact that their favorite person to taunt was enjoying himself. Remus continued to read his book, and occasionally, he would glance up and watch Severus talking to Wren.

The Hogwarts Express finally reached it's destination in Hogsmeade, and it's passengers disembarked, stretching cramped muscles and running about to find friends and seats on the horseless carriages. Five passengers walked slowly towards the carriages, two bickering and waving their hands around, one walking along with their nose in a book, and two more walking silently, both with smiles plastered on their faces.

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Well, that's that. Reply please!! It makes me oh so very happy! 


	3. Chapter 3: Many Meetings

**Disclaimer:** Same as always, my friends. Don't own anything except Wren! **Note: **I am going to assume in my fanfic that Dumbledore has overtaken the previous headmaster of Hogwarts, and that Professor Flitwick is in his place as Charms professor. Also, McGonagall is working at the school too. Sorry if that upsets anybody...

Thanks to those who replied! Thankyou _steelanchor _for your comment; I took that into consideration when writing this chapter. They were all going to ride in the same carriage, but I've changed it. You are very right...I'm not sure I'd like to spend the whole train ride to Hogwarts with them either, even though I luv 'em. But enough of this rambling...onward!

_"A new moon leads me to,_

_Woods of dreams and I follow._

_A new world waits for me;_

_My dream, my way."_

_Enya, -China Roses_

* * *

The carriage they found already had two occupants in it when they arrived: two girls. Wren almost fell over in shock when one of them leaped out of the carriage and attacked James, smiling and laughing, and actually did fall over when the other poked her head out of the carriage window. This person's hair was bright green, and she grinned down at Wren.

"Did I scare you?" She asked, not really needing an answer. She looked around and her gaze lingered on Remus, who was still intent on his book. He glanced up at her, smiled, and then shut his book and tucked it away. The girl's hair turned from bright, neon green, to a soft pink, which matched the blush that had spread across her face perfectly.

Severus stepped forwards to offer Wren a hand up, but Sirius beat him to it. He watched as she got up, and then climbed into the carriage, Sirius following. Sirius smiled at Severus as he climbed in, to which Severus replied with a glare. James, Remus, and the other girl got in with them. Six people was a full carriage, and Severus had seen enough of James, Remus, and Sirius to last him for a long while.

Deciding he wouldn't be able to handle standing within 20 yards of any of them for a month, he strode off down the line of carriages until he found one with an extra seat in company that was tolerable. As Severus and his fellow Slytherins' carriage pulled forwards, he sank low in his seat. _It's going to be another long, tiring year at Hogwarts, if today's standards are anything to go by,_ he thought as he gingerly felt his bruised nose.

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Back in the carriage which held the three Marauders and the three girls, introductions were once going around.

"Wren, this is Nymphadora, and this is Lily. They're both in Gryffindor with us." Sirius pointed first to the girl with color changing hair, and then to the girl that had pounced on James.

"Hi." Wren said, suddenly feeling very shy. Boys she could deal with…she had two older brothers and a younger one. She'd been raised with them, so she didn't do a lot of things that most girl did, like wear make-up, read magazines, and make sure their hair was immaculate. She didn't really see the point in any of it. Make-up took forever to put on, and if you wore it, you'd have to constantly touch it up, and then it would have to be washed off and reapplied the next day. A nice big book was always better than a magazine; and who really cared if your hair wasn't perfect? How many people actually cared if it was or wasn't?

"What's gotten into you, Wren?" James asked as he wrapped an arm around Lily. Seeing Wren's odd stare, he grinned. "Lily's my girlfriend."

Wren smiled, "Ah…that would explain it." She paused, and then just stated the truth. "I don't really know what to say to girls. I was raised with boys, so…" She smiled again and shrugged.

Lily smiled, "I'm an only child, and Tonks only has a brother. So we're all in the same boat."

Wren relaxed quite a bit, "That's good...but didn't you say your name was Nymphadora?" She asked Sirius.

Nymphadora answered the question herself. "I don't like my name, so I ask everyone to call me by my last name, Tonks. It's easier to remember too." She grinned at Wren.

Wren nodded again, "Okay. Tonks. I'll try to remember." She laughed, "I'm not the best at remembering names, so…" She raised her hands in a shrugging gesture. Becoming excited again at the prospect of being at a new school with new people, she peered out of the window eagerly. "How big is Hogwarts?" She asked aloud, turning back to her carriage-mates.

James smiled, "See for yourself." He pointed out the window through which Wren had been looking out of moments before. They had rounded a bend, and now the whole grounds were laid out before her.

The lake was shimmering in the distance, and Wren could see the tell-tale lights that showed where the first years were crossing over it. Sirius and Remus had told her about that earlier on the train. The lawns sloped gently up to the castle, which looked absolutely colossal. Following the shore line of the lake for a fourth of the way around stretched a giant, dark forest. "Wow…" She murmured, her eyes glued to the window.

She was still staring up at Hogwarts castle when their carriage pulled to a stop outside the main doors leading to the great hall.

"C'mon! Let's go! I don't want to miss the feast!" James exclaimed, and Sirius immediately took off up the stairs with him. Tonks and Lily exchanged exasperated glances, and then followed them, walking up the steps like most normal people do.

Remus waited for Wren, and they walked up the steps together. He was heading off towards what Wren assumed was the Great Hall, when she called him back. "Um, if it's not too much trouble Remus, could you point me towards Professor McGonagall's office? I was supposed to go there for my sorting." She smiled at him, and Remus returned it.

"The second door on the left down that hall." He replied pointing towards a hall across from the Great Hall. "We'll save you a seat in case you get into Gryffindor."

Wren nodded and smiled again, "Thanks." She left Remus and headed down the hall to the door he'd specified. Now that she was here, she was really nervous. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand and knocked on the door before opening it and stepping into the room beyond.

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Thanks for replying! I hope you continue to do so...It makes these long and drawn out summer days so much more enjoyable!

One more note, _Miss Jessica Riddle_, I cliff-hanged this one right at the spot that you wanted to know about (just to make you scream! ), and also, your comment made me think. Wren WAS going to be in Gryffindor, but now I'm not so sure...Now I must think about this a bit more. Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4: Rumors Over Dinner

Okay, I am SO sorry this chapter is so late, but it's really long (6 pages and a bit on Word), so maybe that will make up for it a bit. Some quick notes: most of the professors in Harry's time are already teaching here, excepting Sev of course. The perspective changes a bit, and it's marked, but don't worry! It only changes between Wren and Severus, so it's not that confusing.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anyone, except Wren, and the briefly mentioned Mrs. Gunney.

_"HAVAGAZZO!_

_Why do you keep pushing me down?_

_Pushing my toe, Ooh-chee-doo!_

_Food!"_

_Pandemoniumfromamerica, -Half Fling_

* * *

The room was rather small, with just enough room for it to be considered 'cozy'. There was a desk in the middle of the room, with a straight backed chair behind it, and slightly more comfortable looking ones in front. A fireplace sat in one corner of the room, its flames crackling merrily in the hearth. Five professors stood behind the desk, all smiling at Wren as she closed the door.

"Good evening, Wren." An older man with a white beard long enough to rival Merlin's stepped forwards, holding an old and many times patched hat. "I am Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, and these are the head of houses." He turned to the four professors standing beside them. "Professor Sprout is the head of Hufflepuff house, Professor McGonagall is head of Gryffindor, Professor Flitwick is head of Ravenclaw, and Professor Slughorn is the head of Slytherin." He pointed first at a short, squat woman with a head full of curls and what seemed to be a friendly disposition. Then came McGonagall, who seemed to match her chair; straight-backed, head held high, and tall. Professor Flitwick was short, coming only up to Wren's waist, and he smiled warmly at her. The last professor was a tall man, and he looked exactly like she had pictured him when Severus had told her about the Potions professor: the sort of man who was cunning and smart but hid it behind a facade of simple-ness.

"I would like more time to discuss matters of the school with you, but I'm afraid we must get to the Great Hall as soon as possible." Dumbledore continued, "Your head of house will have to fill you in about them later."

Wren decided to shove past her shyness and speak up, "Um…on the train, the people I sat with told me a lot about the rules."_ They probably know a lot about them because they've broken so many…_ the thought made her smile. "They explained the house cup and points to me, and school schedules, and most of the mandatory classroom rules."

McGonagall smiled, "Who were these students then? I must remember to give them extra points if they're in Gryffindor."

Wren repeated their names for her, taking a moment to remember them, "James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Severus Snape."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow, "That bunch? Odd…And I wouldn't expect Severus to sit with them…" The others nodded slowly, odd looks passing over their faces as Severus' name came up. Wren raised an eyebrow at them, wondering why they suddenly looked so uneasy, but no one came forward with an explanation, and Wren wasn't about to ask.

Deciding against mentioning that she first met the four boys when they were fighting, Wren looked at Dumbledore questioningly. "Umm…" She glanced at the hat.

"Ah yes. We need to hurry. You will be sorted here, and then proceed to the Great Hall with us for the feast. You'll need to find a prefect to tell you the password, or ask the head of house. It changes every month, too." Albus explained. Wren nodded, and he unfolded the Sorting Hat.

He placed it on her head, and it sat there snugly; quite the opposite of how it normally slid down over the heads of first years, but then again, Wren was in her sixth year of magical education. There was silence, and Wren thought she heard whispering, even though it was just the professors and her in the room, and none of them were talking. Feeling the excitement bubbling up in her, she concentrated on the whispers, which grew louder.

_Well now, well now...this sure is interesting...you're a fine piece of work aren't you my dear? _The voice whispered, _So...where to put you...not Slytherin, no...definitely not. Hufflepuff perhaps?...but no, that doesn't fit you either. That leaves Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Yes...I believe...just the place for you..._ The Sorting hat's musings grew silent.

Then, suddenly and loudly, the hat boomed, "RAVENCLAW!" And was silent again. James had warned her that the hat would yell out her house name, but she still jumped when it spoke.

She was pleased that she had been chosen for Ravenclaw, but sad at the same time since the only friends she'd made were all in Gryffindor, and one in Slytherin. Professor Flitwick seemed to guess what was running through her head, for he smiled and stepped forwards. "Congratulations on making Ravenclaw!" He said, accepting the Sorting hat back from her, "James, Remus and Sirius are good friends to have, and don't worry; You'll have classes with them. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws have quite a few classes together, normally anyways."

Wren didn't miss the fact that Severus was left out entirely, but nodded and smiled. "Okay. Thanks."

McGonagall smiled, and then, checking the clock on her desk raised her eyebrows at Albus.

"Ah…of course. We must be off! We can't let all of that delicious food go to waste now, can we? And the first years need sorting as well." He smiled, and led the way out of McGonagall's office. The headmaster bobbed his head pleasantly at Wren as he left, McGonagall nodded to her, Slughorn smiled and clasped her shoulder, and Sprout said, "Welcome to Hogwarts, Wren!" as she too, filed out. Flitwick walked with Wren out of the room to fill her in on where her dormitories were, and he also told her the password to enter them, which was _intelligentsia fellowship _…an odd password in Wren's standards, but it did seem to fit. Ravenclaws _were_ supposed to be the smarter of the houses.

They entered the Great Hall moments later, driving further puzzlement of the dormitory password out of Wren's mind. The first thing that hit her was that it was HUGE. She looked up at the ceiling, and smiled as she saw that it was enchanted to look like the sky outside. A few students were turning to stare at her, so she made her way down the middle of two tables. Looking at the students, she quickly deduced that they sat at separate house tables, the Slytherins on the far right table, then the Ravenclaws, followed by the Gryffindors, and then the Hufflepuffs.

The Marauders and Lily were sitting halfway down their table, and when they saw her they waved. Seeing an open spot at her own table across from them, Wren smiled and sat down on the other side of the aisle from them. "Hi!" She said, still looking around. There were hundreds of candles levitated above the tables to light the hall and their plates, but there was no food on the table. "Wasn't there supposed to be a feast? Where's the food?" She asked, confused.

Sirius grinned, "We've got to wait for the first years to get sorted, and then Dumbledore will probably make a brief speech. Changes in the rules...warnings to the first years…that sort of stuff. _Then_ we eat."

Wren smiled back, and looked up and down the table, "Where's Nymph--I mean, Tonks?" She corrected herself.

Lily stared at Wren skeptically, and then shook her head and smiled, "I forgot you're new here. Tonks is in Hufflepuff, and she is…" Lily turned away from Wren to scan the Hufflepuff table, and then pointed towards the top. "…over there." Wren followed her gaze and hand, and saw Tonks waving energetically at her, two tables over. Indeed, it was the Hufflepuff table. Smiling, she waved back, and then turned back to her table to peer beyond it at the Slytherin table. Finally she spotted Severus, who was twirling his fork around aimlessly.

-----

Severus looked up and down the rows of tables again. The heads of houses had come in, excepting McGonagall of course, so that meant the new girl was here in the Great Hall. Picking up his fork and spinning it around in his hand, he skillfully told himself that he was not looking for Wren, but was in fact, just keeping a close watch on his three least favorite people. Finding them at the Gryffindor table, his gaze drifted down along the bench a little ways, figuring that if she was in Gryffindor, she'd be sitting by or near them.

In a way he was wrong and right, as someone's energetic arm waving caught his attention. Glancing over, he saw it was Wren, and she seemed to be waving at someone behind him. Severus turned his head to see who she was waving at, but there was just unoccupied space behind him, and the wall. _She's waving at me…_ He realized.

Feeling like an idiot, he turned back, and glanced up at Wren. She was grinning at him now, and Severus looked away angrily. His face burned with embarrassment, and he didn't wave back at her.

-----

Wren dropped her hand, and frowned in confusion. She was sure Severus had seen her, and recognized her, but he was ignoring her completely now. His words came back to her, from earlier in the day. _"…You know…People won't like you if you hang out with me. You shouldn't even be talking to me."_

_Well…that might explain why he's upset…maybe he's embarrassed…_ She mused. Her theory was proved when he glanced back at her again and blushed. She grinned at him, and he went an even darker shade of pink.

The Great hall's noise volume dropped immensely in the next few seconds, as the double-oak doors swung open. McGonagall strode confidently through, followed by a group of thirty or so nervous 11 year olds. The first years had arrived, and the Sorting was about to begin.

-----

Severus watched the whole sorting of the first years without interest. The only good part in his opinion was when the first of the first years fell off of the stool in shock when the hat shouted out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The rest went by as normally as it ever had done, and Severus found his mood darkening as his stomach thoughtfully reminded him it hadn't had a good meal in weeks.

After what seemed like an eon or two to Severus, the ceremony was over, and McGonagall carried the stool and hat out of the Great hall.

He sighed in gratitude and weariness and watched the plates in front of him expectantly, but the sigh became a groan as he heard an all too familiar and annoying voice ring out over the din that had picked up again.

-----

Wren's attention briefly wavered to Sirius, who had just done a spectacular imitation of the Hufflepuff first year's fall from the stool. Her attention was brought back to the head table though, as Professor Dumbledore pushed his chair back and stood up.

He waited until he had all of the student's attention before beginning to speak. "Welcome, welcome, back to another year at Hogwarts!" He smiled, "I hope that you'll all be courteous and kind to your fellow students this year, both old and new." He gestured around the hall at the first years who had settled into seats, and as his gaze swept around the hall again, his gaze rested a moment longer on James, Sirius and Remus.

"Mrs. Gunney, our caretaker has asked me to remind you that dung-bombs are _still_ not permitted to be let off in the hall; and while on the subject of halls, there are to be no spell casting in the hallways. Also, the Forbidden Forest is still off-limits to _all students_." Again, his gaze passed over the sea of faces and lingered on the notorious threesome.

"Now," He said, smiling and clapping his hands together. "I know more than a few of you are eager for this old codger to stop talking so we can eat. And I quite agree! Tuck in, friends!" Dumbledore sat down again, and immediately spooned a large amount of mashed potato onto his plate.

Wren blinked, and looked back at her house table. The trays and plates that had been empty were now full with food. Glancing around, she saw others in her house helping themselves to whatever they wanted, so she followed their lead. All of her favorite dishes were there; shrimp, pork ribs, sesame chicken, potatoes and gravy, and many more besides.

Munching on her food enthusiastically, she listened to some of the people around her talking.

"Wonder what we'll do in D. A. D. A. this year?"

"Can someone pass me the salad?"

"Which tower was Divination in again?"

One thread of conversation caught Wren's attention though, and she immediately leaned closer to the people that were talking, on the pretext of grabbing a croissant and a jug of pumpkin juice.

"Which one is he?" A younger kid asked another table-mate. He was looking over at the Slytherin table.

"The one over there…" The other whispered, as if he was scared of talking too loud. He pointed with a trembling finger at one of the Slytherins, "The one leaning on his hand, picking at his food."

"Him?" Asked the first kid, pointing to one of the Slytherins a few seats up from where the second had pointed.

"No…him. Yeah. He's the one." The second kid's voice had dropped down to a whisper, "They say he knows more about the Dark Arts than the rest of the school put together." The second boy continued on, mentioning something about a Gryffindor and a window, but it was lost on Wren.

The boy the kids were talking about was a tall Slytherin, with black hair that fell to his shoulders and a frown on his face. A face all too familiar to Wren. It was Severus. "_He knows Black Magic?_"She wondered, unaware that she'd just spoken aloud and was frozen in place, half risen out of her seat, and staring at Severus…who was staring back now.

Luckily, no one had heard Wren's exclamation in the din of noise, but Severus was watching her closely now. She sat down hurriedly, spilling some of the pumpkin juice on the table, and sloshing a lot more of it down the front of her robe.

"WREN!!"

Wren felt something soft and small whack the top of her head. Turning around, she saw a grape rolling away from her on the floor, and James and Sirius grinning at her. "_Finally._ Thought you'd fallen asleep or something for a while. What were you staring at?" Sirius wanted to know.

Wren couldn't help but glance back at Severus, who was still watching them warily. "No one…" She muttered, turning back. It was disturbing to think that someone who seemed so nice knew dangerous and deadly spells.

"Does 'no one' have a sour face and a swollen nose from earlier? You were looking at Snivellus." James said, looking over towards the Slytherin table.

Lily sighed, "I wish you wouldn't call him that, James. Why can't you call him by his name?" She frowned and flicked some raisins at him when he just grinned manically.

Wren nodded slowly, "Yeah…someone at my table just said something about him, and well, it shocked me." She looked at James, Remus, Sirius, and Lily and realized they were wanting her to go on. "They said he knows a lot about the Dark Arts."

Remus nodded, "Yes, he knows quite a lot about them. He's even invented a few of his own spells--" He was cut off by James.

"Heck yes! And a lot of them are good too. Which reminds me, Sirius. When are we going to try out that slug charm? You know, that one we found in his books last year. We never tried it out for him."

Sirius grinned, "Ah yes…" He and James leaned together and began muttering about their newest prank.

Remus sighed, and then was dragged into the conversation by Sirius, while Lily and Wren looked on with disapproving looks. "Boys…" Lily muttered, before turning back to her food. Wren watched them oddly. Apparently she'd made friends with the three most troublesome boys in school, and with the most hated one.

Frustrated slightly, she punched the table half-heartedly. She felt like throwing something at someone, but knew she'd get in trouble.

"Try the mashed potatoes first. And welcome to Hogwarts Wren." A voice spoke behind her, and she turned to see Dumbledore continuing down the middle of the row, nodding to some of the students as he passed. He got to the bottom, and then started back up the row again. Wren wondered if he'd gone temporarily insane, and had no clue what he meant by trying the mashed potatoes.

As he passed a second time, he glanced at her and nodded, smiling. "The potatoes." He repeated, still smiling, and made his way back to his seat.

Suddenly she realized what he'd been mildly suggesting to her. Albus was watching her with a calculating smile, and she mouthed what she thought he wanted her to start.

The smile turned into a grin as Dumbledore read her lips and nodded, just as she reached forwards for the mashed potatoes.

* * *

So...can anyone figure out what Dumbledore wants her to do? XD Kudos to you if you figure it out!!

And if you're wondering about the lyrics at the beginning of this song, I thought they kinda went with the charrie's moods. The 1st and 3rd lines for Dumbledore, 2nd for Severus, and 4th for Wren.


	5. Chapter 5: Food Fight!

That's right. You KNEW it was going to happen sometime. I mean, come ON...Rowling's been daring us all to do this since book one. A big hall, FULL of hormonal teenagers, with loads and loads of food? It was gonna happen sometime.

Anyhoo, this chapter is dedicated tooooooooooo...My best buddy, El!!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anyone...'cept Wren, but we all know this by now. I do however, take full resposibility for the War of Chaos that insues in this chapter. XD

P.S. Sorry for Dumbledore being a bit out of character in this one, but hey, like I said...It was gonna happen sometime. And who better to first suggest such a crazy idea than the nutter himself? Luv ya Albus!

_"Clouds made of carrots and peas,_

_Mountains built of shepherds pie,_

_And rivers made of macaroni and cheese..."_

_Adam Sandler, -Lunchlady Land_

* * *

Sirius and James let out another howl of laughter as they talked, and the corner of Remus' mouth twitched in amusement. Suddenly, Sirius' laugh cut off as something went 'SPLAT' and his head was propelled forwards a bit from the impact. Reaching up, he wiped the back of his head and brought his hand around to look at it wonderingly. 

Mashed potatoes.

He spun around angrily to see Wren, half risen in her seat, with a hand covered in mashed potatoes, and the bowl sitting in her lap. She grinned wickedly at him. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THA--" Another glob of mashed potatoes hit him, plastering itself all over his face.

Another one followed, getting James in the neck and shoulder, and Remus got pudding flung onto his shirt. Lily was laughing so hard by now, she'd gotten half of the hall's attention on her, and she'd spilled the pumpkin juice all over the table.

Wren stood up grinning, hefted the bowl of mashed potatoes high over her head, and yelled, "FOOD FIGHT!!!" With that short and sweet speech, she turned and dumped the whole bowl of mashed potatoes onto her unfortunate neighbor's head. He spluttered, the bowl falling to the floor with a clatter. The boy across from him started laughing, and the other boy wiped mashed potatoes off of his face to glare at him. Wren smiled innocently and offered him a croissant.

The boy took it, and chucked it at the boy across from him, who ducked. The croissant hit a Slytherin instead, who went face first into his pie. Everyone roared with laughter, as the fight grew into a war. Chaos reigned, as people threw food items, others ran for cover, and some just sat and laughed, while teachers scrambled for cover and shouted orders to cease fire (which were ignored completely).

Tonks, notorious for being slightly klutzy, hurled some lasagna at someone farther up the table, but her aim was far off, and instead it flew over the heads of onlookers to land squarely in Professor McGonagall's salad bowl. Sauce and ranch splattered onto her in great quantities, and she stared wide eyed down at her robe.

Everyone froze and stared up at her. She looked like a volcano ready to erupt. She glared around at the students, daring them to laugh, and promising detention for the year if someone even sneezed. Laughter broke out in the hall, and McGonagall turned to stare incredulously at Dumbledore. He was laughing openly, clapping his hands, "Great shot, Miss Tonks! Good job!"

McGonagall's face became very calm, as she reached over the table and picked up a handful of spaghetti and threw it at Dumbledore, where it landed on his white beard, now staining red. McGonagall actually smiled and yelled, "HA!" Thus, the professors became engrossed in their own little battle of the foods, and the students quickly resumed their much larger scale fight.

Wren, James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily were now covered in food items thrown at each other, and laughing hysterically. Many students were fleeing the great hall in search of better cover. Sirius suddenly called a truce, although they still got hit with other foods that students were throwing around. James paused, a handful of peanuts in one hand, and looked at Sirius questioningly. Sirius pointed at a solitary figure carefully picking its way towards the exit. "C'mon!" He exclaimed, before rushing down the middle of the tables, James and Remus in hot pursuit.

-----

Severus screeched to a stop near the double oak doors as three people blocked the door. James, Sirius, and Remus were all grinning wickedly. "Spoiled sport, Snivellus? Come now, you don't have a single scrap of food on you." James grinned.

"I see you've got more than enough on you." Severus retorted, glaring at them.

Remus held up a bowl of applesauce, and Sirius hefted an armful of salad. "We wanted to tar and feather you at some point, Snivellus, but we thought this would work, given the circumstances." James continued, ignoring Severus' comment. Remus stepped up in front of Severus, and reached for a handful of applesauce. As he pulled out a handful of the stuff, Lily and Wren reached them.

Remus paused for a moment to grin at them, and Lily and Wren grinned back…right before splashing all of the contents of two pumpkin juice jugs onto both him and Severus. They laughed, and Remus did as well, although Snape wasn't in the least bit pleased.

_Well…it's better than being pelted with stuff from those freaks…_ Severus reasoned, glaring at the boys. The next moment, all Severus knew was that Remus, James and Sirius had been rushing at him, and the next, the weren't in front of him at all.

They'd all slipped as they stepped forwards on the now wet floor, and went down. James and Sirius on the bottom, Remus next, and the bowl of applesauce after that, completely covering them in the thick gooey substance. Slowly, once contained in Sirius' arms but no more, salad leaves drifted down from the air to land on them.

Lily and Wren were hanging off of each other because they were laughing so hard, and as they straightened up, they smiled at Severus. He couldn't help but smile back as they waved him away, and allowed him to escape torment from the three applesauce covered boys getting slowly up off of the floor.

-----

A moment later, Remus was standing again, with a grin still plastered on his face, and was helping Sirius and James up, offering them each a hand. Just as they'd all stood up again, Tonks came running up to them. She skidded on the floor and yelped, as she went crashing between James and Sirius, sending them back to greet the floor, and slammed full speed into Remus.

Remus was knocked to the floor, as Tonks landed on top of him. She smiled apologetically, her normally purple hair going bright red again as she blushed. "Sorry, Remus." She rose up halfway, but a flying army of doughnuts began pelting her, and she ducked back down for cover just as Remus got up onto his elbows.

Their foreheads met with a whack, and their lips smacked together. Both froze, not sure what to do; unconsciously prolonging their accidental kiss. Tonks jumped off of him a split second later, and muttered another apology. She wasn't blushing now, having seemed to somehow transferred it to Remus, who looked like a strawberry.

He muttered something about being tired out, and he, James, Sirius, and Lily left, all but Remus laughing and joking.

Wren and Tonks watched them go up the stairs and head towards their dormitories. Wren moved up to Tonks and smiled at her. "You like him, don't you?" She asked quietly, no longer needing to shout since almost all of the students had ceased their fights and had made their way out of the Great Hall.

"Yes…" Tonks replied quietly, reaching up to touch her lips thoughtfully. She glanced at Wren, "Do you…do you think…he…I…" She stuttered.

"I think he likes you too." Wren smiled, getting the gist of what Tonks was trying to ask, and was rewarded with one of the brightest smiles she'd ever seen. "I'd give him space for a couple days though…It looks like he was in shock."

They both looked at each other, and then burst out laughing, exiting the Great Hall together, until they parted ways at the third floor, Tonks disappearing down a hall towards her dormitory while Wren continued up the stairs towards hers.

Back in the Great Hall, the professors were still at it, hurling pies and cakes, tossing fruits and salads, and sloshing drinks everywhere. They were covered in more food than most of the students, and were completely oblivious to the fact that their charges had left for the showers and a good night's sleep.

* * *

XD So...what think you? Review please! They make me very happy! 


	6. Chapter 6: The Owlery

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anyone! Just Wren!

Thanks everyone for reviewing, and also, thanks for reading and (hopefully) being entertained! This chapter's all funky and long, and it changes perspectives quite a bit...but it's marked, same as before. Enjoy!! And I'm sorry it's so late, I had serious writer's block. DIE WRITER'S BLOCK!!! DIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!! Ahem...sorry.

_"I can't watch the time go by,_

_I won't keep it inside,_

_Freak out, let it go."_

_Avril Lavigne, -Freak Out_

* * *

It took Wren ten minutes to find the statue behind which was concealed her dormitory, and that wasn't counting the half an hour it took her to find the right hall. Sighing, she spoke clearly to the statue, "Intelligentsia fellowship." 

The statue came to life and sprang aside to allow her entry into the common room. She entered the small tunnel, and turned to see the statue move back to cover the entrance and deny entrance to all who didn't have the password. Turning back around, she smiled as she looked around. There was a fireplace on one side of the wall, with many plump cushions, chairs and couches scattered around the room. Two winding staircases led the way up to what seemed to be the dormitories.

Moving across the room slowly, she crossed to the opposite wall from the fireplace. There, a huge window overlooked the grounds. She could see the Forbidden forest, the lake next to and behind it, and the far off mountains. Grinning, she climbed up the stairs to her dormitory.

When she entered, there was no one there, but half emptied suitcases suggested that their owners had begun unpacking. Sighing, Wren fished out her wand from her pocket, and used a spell that her mother had invented, to clean up her face and hair. It left her hair slightly damp, but it was the basic equivalence of a shower. Shedding her food stained clothes, she changed into her nightclothes, and then set about unpacking her things. Just as she was finishing, her roommates came in, all clean and wet from extensive showering.

She smiled at them, and got ones in return, but no one said anything. They were all exhausted from the food fight from earlier, and the long train ride before that. Flopping down on her bed, Wren soon found herself surrounded by the peaceful breathing of the four girls around her, but sleep would not come for her. She was too wound up from being in a new place, making new friends, and starting a food fight on her first night at Hogwarts.

Willing herself to try and sleep, she rolled over in bed and shut her eyes tightly. They flew open a few minutes later, to gaze out of the small window near her bed. The moon was almost full, a few days away from it, and it cast a twilight down onto the trees and lake. Something broke the surface of the still water, and Wren sat up, peering down amazed as she saw the biggest squid she'd ever seen propel itself lazily across the surface.

Sighing, and resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be able to sleep at all now, she got up, and changed back into her school robes (clean ones of course). Slipping quietly out of the room, she crept down the stairs. The large window again drew her attention as she made her way across the room. _I'll write to home…_ she thought, smiling. _And tell them what a fabulous place this is!_

A moment later, she had rushed quietly up the stairs, grabbed her school bag, and made her way back down to the common room again. She was just about to leave, when she stopped, her arm outstretched towards the portal statue. If she left now, and wrote her letter elsewhere, there was more of a chance of getting caught. Instead, she turned and plopped her things down at her feet and relaxed into one of the large chairs, and began to write.

A short while later, Wren was finished with her letter to her family. She crossed the room, glancing at the clock on the mantlepiece as she went. Two in the morning...sighing, she went back to the statue. Touching it lightly on the shoulder, it once again sprang to life and moved to allow her to exit. "Thanks." She said to it without thinking, patting it mildly on the head.

She started off up the stairs, going quietly, and keeping a hold on her wand in her pocket. She used it once or twice while looking around on each floor, muttering, "_Lumos_." After a few levels, the stairs ended, and Wren was at a loss as to where to go. _They need signs in such a big place… _Shrugging to herself, she set off down one of the corridors, creeping silently between the shadows.

She'd turned down yet another deserted corridor, when she saw something barrel out of a door cackling. It started down the hall towards her, and Wren took a step backwards as she realized what it was. A ghost, with an armful of chalk, skimming over the floor as it raced down the corridor.

It saw her and froze, then grinned, "Well well…this isn't an ickle first year. Never seen you before. Not supposed to be wandering about the halls at night, you aren't." The ghost said, peering at Wren closely in the moonlit corridor.

Wren stared at it, then smiled, "I know I'm not. I was never one for rules though." She smiled again as the ghost gave her a calculating look. "I'm Wren. If you don't mind me asking…are you a poltergeist?"

The ghost stared at her and put on a shocked expression, "Whatever makes you think I'm a poltergeist?" It asked innocently. Wren smiled and pointed at the chalk in his arms. It glanced down, and then turned to stare at her. "I should turn you in, I should." But he made no move to do so, but made a ridiculous bow and merely said, "Peeves the Poltergeist."

Wren raised an eyebrow, "And if you turn me in, Peeves, what will I say about your activities on this fine night?" Peeves opened his mouth to say something, and then just grinned.

"Ah…little Wrenny bird knows how to play." He stood and watched Wren for a moment, then asked, "A truce then, little birdie?"

Wren smiled, "If you could be so kind as to point me towards the owlery, I won't have seen you." Peeves grinned in agreement, "Likewise." He then proceeded to give her directions from where they were to the owlery.

-----

Severus sighed, and leaned back in his chair to view his work. The open book at his fingertips was flipped open to the fourth or fifth page. Once again, the text stopped halfway down the page, leaving the others after it blank. Severus glared at the blankness, and flicked through the white sheets of parchment. Luckily, he had another blank book to write in, but sadly didn't have a duplicate of his writing that was thrown out of the window. _Curse Black. Curse Potter. Curse Lupin. Damn them all to Hell!_

He slammed the book shut, causing several of the other Slytherins to glance at him. But that was all they did. Glance, and exclude him from their conversations. Even Lucius wouldn't talk to him now.

Severus rubbed his eyes and slouched farther down in his seat. So far, life had taken an unpleasant turn down hill since last year, and that hill had steepened since he'd gotten back to school. _And all because of that stupid Peter coming and…_ He shut his eyes tightly. _No…don't think about that…_

Music started playing in the common room, and the Slytherins were starting to get really rowdy. They always were at night, especially this night. Most of them would stay up until the early hours of the morning, joking and laughing, since school didn't start the next day. They just got their schedules and had the day to themselves. That thought cheered up Severus slightly. Homework always gave him an excuse to be elsewhere, and kept his mind off of things.

The music grew louder, and the Slytherins as well. No one noticed Severus grab his things, stuff them in his bag, and exit the dorm, and no one would have cared anyways if they had seen him.

As he climbed the stairs out of the dungeons, he thought about where to go for some peace and quiet._ There's the library of course, but it'll still be locked up tight by Dumbledore and not that bat of a librarian…_ Severus normally went to the library, but not when it was locked by Dumbledore. The librarian, Madame Pince, didn't do nearly as well locking the door with her spells, and it was simple to get in then.

_I could sit in the hall…or find a classroom…_ but then again, a lot of them were locked, and there was always the chance of running into a teacher or one of the Hogwarts ghosts. _That leaves the grounds, and the owlery…_ The owlery was always unlocked, and so were the grounds. The choice being obvious, he made his way to the double oak doors leading to the grounds. As he got to the entrance hall, he was suddenly hit by something hard and sharp. Glaring up, he saw Peeves, floating upside down with a handful of chalk.

"Seems everyone's chosen this night to be out and about…" Peeves mused to himself as he pelted Severus with more chalk.

"Cut it out, Peeves! Leave me alone!" Severus shouted, as Peeves cackled and hurled the rest of his chalk at him. Shooting away backwards with his tongue out, he stopped to hover by a statue near the door, and picked up another handful of chalk from his stash behind the marble figure.

Muttering oaths under his breath, Severus whirled around and stomped off towards the stairs. Peeves cackled manically, and chased after him for a while, this time throwing large amounts of chalk powder all over him.

Ten minutes later, a chalk covered but Peeves free Severus stomped into the owlery; so enraged that he didn't notice that someone else was there…and walked right into them.

-----

Wren watched the large brown school owl fly off with her letter. She smiled and waved it farewell, and watched it until she couldn't see it anymore. Peeves had been more than thorough with his instructions up to the owlery; he had the route mapped out for her down to the last crack in the wall and the suits of armor.

Turning, she was about to make her way back down, when she heard someone coming. Freezing in place, she watched bewildered as Severus appeared. He didn't seem to see her…that much was obvious when he walked right into her. Wren blinked as he jumped nearly a foot in the air, and yelped in surprise.

He seemed very angry…beyond it almost, as Wren stared at him. He glared at her and crossed his arms, "What?" He finally snapped when she didn't speak. "Why are you even up here?" He snarled.

"I could ask you the same question." She replied calmly, "I was up here sending a letter, if you really wanted to know."

-----

Severus winced, and unfolded his arms. _Of course…why else would someone be up in the owlery than to send a letter?_ He shook his head, "Right…sorry…I just…" He trailed off, and stared at the floor.

"You were just angry." Wren finished for him. It wasn't a question, or sarcasm, or an accusation. It was just a statement, and Severus nodded slowly in agreement.

Wren took a small step forwards, and reached up to him, dusting some chalk powder off of his shoulder. He felt himself going red again as she dusted down his sleeve as well. _Why do I always go red when I'm around her?_ He wondered bitterly. He shivered involuntarily as Wren's warm hand lightly touched his colder one.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked suddenly, and Severus blinked.

"What?" Severus stared at her, going redder with every passing moment.

-----

Wren smiled, "Do you want to talk about it?" She repeated herself for him for the second time in twenty-four hours. When Severus still seemed to draw a blank, she continued. "About why you're angry. Sometimes it helps to talk about it. Let it out…you know." Wren shrugged and smiled at him. "I don't mind if you just want to rant to me."

-----

Severus opened his mouth angrily, to tell her that it was none of her goddamned business why he was angry, and then stopped himself. _She's only trying to help…and who knows? Maybe she's right… _He looked away for a moment, and then looked at her again. "I don't know…" He muttered.

Wren stared at him, her head cocked to one side, hands behind her back, waiting. Finally, he walked past her to sit down against the wall. Wren took that as a yes, and followed him over. The floor was strewn with straw and owl droppings, and he thought Wren might not want to sit down. It didn't bother her a bit though, as she plopped herself down beside him and turned to listen.

Severus stared off into space for a while. _How much should I tell her?_ He wondered, _Will she hate me if I tell her that I…I…_ He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. _That it was my fault?_ Severus shut his eyes tightly. _No…I won't tell her about that. She doesn't need to know. Besides…Wren's the first person who's treated me like a human in a long while…not like that Potter and his gang of friends. The teachers don't understand, and Dumbledore…well, he's done enough for me already._ Severus' train of thought de-railed spectacularly as he realized that Wren had once again taken to dusting off the chalk from his clothes. As he looked at her, she glanced up at him and smiled, pulling back her hand. "Sorry…habit."

Severus had the sudden and odd urge to grab her and give her a massive hug. His arms started the motion, but he managed to turn it into a shrug at the last moment. "I don't care." He muttered, the pink flush spreading across his face again revealing that he thought quite the opposite. He fell silent again, not knowing how to start.

-----

Wren watched him silently as she waited for him to speak. When it became apparent that he had no idea what to say to her…or what to say at all, she spoke quietly to him. "Um…Severus? Was it…Peeves who threw chalk all over you?"

The question seemed to have returned mouth functioning to Severus' control, because he snorted angrily. "Yes. He saw me head for the doors to the grounds and intercepted me. Dunno where he got all of that bloody chalk from. Probably nicked it from the classrooms upstairs, not that I care." He glared up at the few owls who weren't hunting or out stretching their wings as if it was their fault that Peeves had chosen this night to steal chalk and then pelt the closest person with it, which had happened to be him.

Wren felt like it was partially her fault that Severus had been assaulted by Peeves, and she also wondered why he had been going sneaking off around the grounds at night. As Severus began talking again, his voice filled with anger and hate.

-----

"I'd curse him to Romania and back if he weren't a ghost. And that Potter too…strutting about like he owns this goddamned castle. He always runs his hand through his hair to make it look all windswept, like he's just hopped off of his bloody broom, just because he thinks that it makes him look cool."

Severus punched the floor angrily as he paused for breath, "And Sirius too. _He's_ always running about with whatever girl passes his fancy…I'm surprised half of the female population of the school don't want to tear him apart, the way he flits about from girl to girl like a freaking honeybee."

"And Remus…" He muttered, still glaring upwards, "That were-- …that freak may not join in, but he certainly doesn't stop James and Sirius from using me as a punching bag, does he?" His hand automatically reached up and felt his nose from where Sirius had punched him.

He sighed, and then, so quietly that Wren had to pay careful attention, he said, "And Black threw it out the window…my whole summer, wasted…" This must have been the subject he was most wanting to avoid, judging from significant drop in volume, and also the one he was most angry about, as Wren noticed his hands were balled into fists and he was shaking violently.

Sighing, Severus visibly began taking slow and deep breaths, until his hands stopped shaking although they remained in fists. He then glanced over at her, and answered newest question that had entered her mind. "I was writing…a book…this…" He reached into his bag, and pulled out a book, the same one he'd been writing in while housed in his common room.

-----

Wren took the book and looked it over, flicking through the first few pages that were covered in Severus' neat and small handwriting. "I don't understand…if Sirius threw it out the window, then why do you still have it?"

Severus sighed. "The one he threw out was the one I had on the Hogwarts Express, and that one had half of it's pages filled. I spent virtually my entire summer working on it…" Wren had only known him a day, and he'd just told her something very personal, considering that from what he was saying he'd spent his entire summer writing in a book, only to have it tossed out into a breeze and lost forever, for the sake of a laugh from the people he hated most.

Severus had struck her as the type of person to not share something like this with even his closest friend, though, as Wren watched him, she wondered, _Am I the closest thing he has to a friend right now? Me, who's only spoken to him on one other separate occasion? Why me, of all people?_ She felt immensely sorry for him, as she watched Severus stare sadly at the floor.

"Severus?" She asked quietly; his anger seemed to be mounting again, "Do you…well…do you…" _Oh, bloody ask the question already!_ She found herself snapping at herself, "Do you have any friends? Don't they stick up for you when James and Sirius start messing around?"

_I shouldn't have asked…that hit a nerve…he looks mutinous. _Indeed he did, and for a horrible moment, he half raised his fist as if to hit her. Then he seemed to get a grip on where, and who he was with, and his arm lowered. Wren let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and suddenly, something once again made her feel like she was no longer in the company of a sixteen year old, brilliant potions maker who was rumored to know the Dark Arts, but that a little, lost, scared and lonely boy had taken his place.

That feeling was accentuated by the fact that Severus had drawn his knees up to his body, and he was hugging them to his chest, hiding his face from view. "Of course I don't have any friends…" Came a muffled and depressed sound from Severus, "…I'm me, aren't I? _Snivellus…Snivelly,_ the Black Arts caster, the potion maker, the _freak_. The person no one will hang around because they're scared I'll force feed them poison, or hex them so badly that they'll have to slither home." There was silence for a minute, and then his voice, so quiet now that Wren almost missed it, came through from it's muffled position. "Don't you get it Wren? No one likes me. No one wants to be my friend. They'd rather I just go find a nice hole far away from them and die."

-----

Severus jumped as he felt Wren put her arm around his shoulders, but other than that, didn't move. _Why hasn't she left yet?_ He found himself wondering. He raised his head slightly to look at her though, when he felt her stroke his hair. Wren was running her hand through it, with an odd smile on her face. It wasn't at all greasy as she'd imagined it would be, but just appeared that way. It was really soft and smooth, and she couldn't help but marvel that it's appearance screamed one thing, while her hand was telling her the exact opposite.

She managed to give him half a smile, "Please don't do that. I'll be your friend."

Severus didn't reply, but stared at her, his black pained eyes wavering slightly as they met her blue sincere ones. He stared at her for a long time, and finally looked away. "You pity me."

Wren decided to not directly answer his question, and skirt around it, "You need a friend, Severus. It seems to me that I'm the best you've got." Her hand was flat on the back of his head, and she felt him stiffen. She began stroking his hair again, watching for his reaction. She was unable to surpress a small smile as she felt him tense even more and then slowly, relax.

-----

They were both silent for a long time, sitting together and gazing into space. Finally, Severus turned to look at Wren. She was staring up at the owls with a grin on her face, and as several of them swooped in from the wide open window, her gaze shifted to watch them flutter onto roosts. "I suppose we should head back..." He said finally as a wave of tiredness washed over him. He yawned widely, and saw Wren glance at him and immediately stifled one of her own.

"Yeah...I think it's probably around 5." Suddenly Wren sat up straight, her eyes wide. "Please tell me we don't have classes tomorrow."

Severus smirked, "We don't. We just get our scedules tomorrow at breakfast."

Wren sighed, and then laughed. "I wonder if I can get it later on in the day...I don't think I'll even be awake by then."

"I know exactly what you mean." Severus grinned and pushed himself up off of the floor. Wren followed suit, and handed him back his book, which he tucked back into his bag. Together they left the owlery, both looking forward to the soft and comfortable beds which, a few hours before, hadn't seemed welcoming at all.

* * *

Woo! Hope you liked it, and I'm sorry if it was confusing. Sev is a bit OOC too...sorry! Don't hate meeeeeee! 


	7. Chapter 7: Schedule Screw Up

**Disclaimer of Doom:** Sadly, no one's mine, excepting Wren. The rest are Rowling's to toy with...once I'm done. MUAHAHAA!!

Thanks everyone for replying, since it's been awhile since I said it. I luv you all! Again, thanks so much!

_"You say black I say white,_

_You say bark I say bite._

_You say shark I say hey man!_

_Jaws was never my scene and I don't like Star Wars."_

_Queen, -Bicycle Race_

* * *

Wren walked into the great hall, rubbing her eyes. Sirius, James, and Remus were just getting up from the table. They rushed up to her as she stumbled forwards.

"Wren…are you okay?" Sirius asked, peering into her face. James and Remus stood close by as well.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why shouldn't I be? Do I really look that horrible after 4 hours of sleep?" She grinned.

"Glad to see that your humor hasn't been affected." Remus smiled at her. "Do you want us to wait with you? We were heading outside to go flying." He nodded to James and Sirius, "They are anyways. I'm only going to watch."

Wren smiled back, "No, you go on ahead…I'll be awhile. I'll catch up later with you, okay?" They nodded, and left the hall, Remus pausing to grab a handful of toast off of the end of the table.

Sitting down heavily, Wren reached for the pumpkin juice, downing a glassful immediately to wake herself up. Someone tapped her on the arm and Wren looked around to see Tonks sitting down next to her. "Hey Wren!" She grinned, holding up a letter, and another opened one after it, promptly sending a plate of scones skidding across the table.

Wren blinked at her confused, "What's that?"

"_Schedules_!" Tonks rolled her eyes exasperatedly as Wren's expression slowly changed from confusion to comprehension. She handed the unopened one to Wren, and watched amusedly as she ripped it open and read the parchment enclosed. "Well?" She asked finally, pulling out her own schedule. "Let's see then."

Wren placed her parchment down excitedly and read it out loud for Tonks. "I've got…Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and…and…WHAT!?" She exclaimed, seizing the parchment and staring at it, an inch from her nose as she re-read again and again the last class on her list. "Oh no…"

"What is it?" Tonks asked, looking at Wren wide-eyed.

Wren handed her the paper, "PLEASE tell me that one of my classes is Advanced Potions…"

Tonks read it, and nodded, "That's what it says. Golly…you must be good to get into that class. Only the best potions makers get into there!" Tonks obviously thought it was positively wonderful that Wren had managed to get into Advanced Potions.

Wren on the other hand, collapsed onto the table, groaning. "The school must have made a mistake! Oh what'll I do!? I'm horrible at potions!"

Tonks grinned, "Let me get this straight…you've been placed into Advanced Potions, and you suck at brewing the stuff?" When Wren nodded miserably, she burst out laughing. "I'm sorry…It's just…the look on your face…" Tonks bit her lip, trying desperately not to burst into fits of laughter. "Well…On the bright side, Wren, I've got…" She paused to consult her own schedule, "…Blimey…I've got all of your classes, except Transfiguration and Advanced Potions."

Wren's mood instantly brightened, "Really? Awesome!" She smiled, and Tonks returned it. Just then, Lily entered the hall, stopped briefly to talk to McGonagall, and then rushed over to Tonks and Wren.

"Heya!" Lily greeted them. "Schedules?" She asked Tonks, who immediately handed them over. Lily regarded them both for a moment, and then opened up her freshly delivered letter from McGonagall. "Hmm…I've got Charms and Astronomy with you both, Transfiguration with Wren, and Defense Against the Dark Arts with Tonks." She said finally, smiling.

Tonks nodded, and took back her schedule from Lily as she sat down. Lily handed Wren hers back, and then clapped a hand to her head. "Oh! I forgot! We were meeting James, Sirius, and Remus for Quidditch practice!"

Wren grinned as they stood and waited for her, "You guys go on ahead…I have to talk to someone. I'll catch up later."

Tonks looked at her skeptically, glancing around the hall. The only people there were a small group of Hufflepuff first years, the Astronomy and Potions professors, and themselves. Everyone else had gotten up early for their schedules, eaten, and left to go roam the castle or stroll about the grounds. "Can I ask who?"

"Ah, but if I told you, I'd have to kill you." Wren kidded, waving her wand in front of Tonks. The other girls just laughed and waved farewell, heading off towards the distant Quidditch pitch.

Wren waited a good half an hour more for Severus, nibbling and sipping until she was actually awake. The professors had left sometime early, but the Hufflepuff first years were still eating and talking. A groan from their direction made Wren look up from her plate. All of the food was slowly vanishing from their table, spreading up slowly it and leaving only polished golden plates and goblets behind.

It wasn't until the food had vanished from the Hufflepuff table completely and was halfway down from the Gryffindor's when Wren was struck with the fact that Severus hadn't appeared yet, and he therefore hadn't eaten. Jumping to her feet, she opened her empty school bag, which she'd (for no reason to her) grabbed before exiting her dormitory. She crammed it full with all she could grab: toast, bacon, some eggs wrapped in a napkin, a jug of pumpkin juice, scones, and some apple tarts, just as the vanishing epidemic reached the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables.

Sighing, Wren stood from the table, and put her shoulder bag over her head. Adjusting it to where it was comfortable, she left the great hall. There was no reason to be there, and judging from the way Severus had acted last night, he probably wouldn't appreciate her sitting next to him and talking.

She spotted Severus himself emerging from a stairway leading down into the dungeons. He blinked and barely glanced around as he made his way towards Wren and the nonexistent food beyond.

He smiled at her, and seemed more awake than Wren had when she'd emerged from her own common room. "Morning." He said, stopping in front of her and shifting awkwardly after a moment.

Wren smiled and returned his greeting, "Hey, Severus." He blinked, and Wren remembered that not many people called him by that name. She smiled, "The food's been cleared. It's all gone." She said, jerking her head back towards the great hall.

Severus swore fluently, "Damn it! And I don't know how to get into the bloody kitchens!"

"Come on then. Let's go outside. I've got food in my bag…I thought you'd be hungry." She grinned at him and patted the bulging bag at her side, before starting off towards the massive double oak doors that were now flung wide to let an autumn breeze in. When Severus just stared after her, rather gratefully, Wren sighed and took his hand, pulling him along.

Immediately, that wonderful pink tinge that Severus had come to know and hate so well this past day appeared on his face, and he tried to pull his hand out from Wren's. She only glanced back briefly and smiled, pulling him on.

"Wren!!" He hissed as they neared the doors. "Let go!" He felt his cheeks burning as he dug his heels in, only making Wren walk faster and drag him across the slippery floor. "I'm coming, okay? Just let go!" He pleaded desperately as they arrived at the other side of the doors. All he needed on the first day back at school was rumors going around that Wren and he were a 'couple'. That thought didn't help his embarrassment as Wren finally let go of his hand. She stopped on the top of the steps to gaze around at the students and the scenery.

Severus stood beside her, trying to calm down enough for the blush to wear off. Wren turned to him. "So…lead the way." She smiled, and Severus blinked, wondering if he'd missed something.

"Sorry?"

"I'm new here, remember? I don't know where anything is, so…lead the way."

"I know that…" Severus said exasperatedly, "but _where_ exactly am I taking you?" He groaned when Wren just smiled and shrugged, indicating she didn't really care. "Fine…" He started off around the right side of the castle, following it to the end and then setting off towards the lake.

After a while they entered some sparse trees, and they came to the edge of the lake. Wren sat down immediately, and pulled off her bag. She watched rather amusedly as Severus glanced around nervously before seating himself next to her. "What? Am I that scary?" She asked him, pulling the jug of pumpkin juice and the food out of her bag.

"No…I'm just worried about Potter and his friends." He glanced around again.

Wren smiled, "Like they'd dare to do anything if they did turn up. Besides…they're flying around at the Quidditch stadium with Lily and Tonks."

Severus seemed relieved, and accepted the piece of toast offered him, eating it in two bites. He reached out for some more food, but hesitated. Wren waved him on, "Eat, eat!" He immediately obliged, finishing the stack of toast, and polishing off the bacon. He had just taken a swig of pumpkin juice when a thought struck him.

"Wren…" He started, setting the pumpkin juice down, "Why were you waiting for me?"

She groaned and rolled her eyes at the sky. "I wanted to have a look at your schedule actually…do you have it with you?" He raised a long dark eyebrow, but handed it over wordlessly and munched on the food Wren had nicked for him.

"Excellent!" Wren cried happily after a moment.

"Wot?" Severus asked, his mouth full of eggs. Swallowing, he repeated himself. "What?"

"We've got all the same classes!" She explained, overjoyed, "Which means I'm not screwed!"

Severus took back his schedule and ran down the list. "But…hang on…I've got Advanced Potions…and you aren't in that."

"On the contrary, my potions master, I am. The school must've made some mistake, because I've been enrolled in it too." When Severus looked skeptical, she pulled out her own schedule, "See for yourself!"

After a moment, he nodded. "Wow…that's some mistake…You're in for a lot of work in Advanced Potions I'm afraid."

Wren fell backwards and laid on the ground. "Joy." She muttered, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Sitting up again after a moment, she grinned at him. "Can you fly?"

"Excuse me?"

Waving an arm, she said, "Not _fly_…but fly…on a broomstick."

Severus stared at her a moment, "Er…no…not really, no. I've never had the time. Why do you want to know…" He trailed off. "Wren, I'm NOT coming with you to watch those idiots fly around acting like…well…idiots." He frowned, crossing his arms.

Wren smiled and pulled out her wand from her robe, and stood up. Raising her wand hand in the air, she stood in a defiant/triumphant pose. "Don't worry…I'll protect you!" She laughed, but Severus wasn't, although the corner of his mouth did twitch of it's own accord.

Wren dropped her arm and stared down at him…which didn't last long as he stood up, being a few inches taller than her. "Come on, Severus. Please?"

"No!"

Wren stared at him a for a few long moments, one eyebrow raised, and one hand on her hip. Severus rolled his eyes, "Wren…I don't want to be anywhere near them if I can help it. I told you before. Last night."

She nodded at last, "I know."

There was a long stretch of silence in which Wren picked up her now empty bag, slung it over her shoulder, and pocketed her wand. "So…you can't ride a broomstick?" Severus shook his head. Wren suddenly smiled. "Would you come if I could guarantee that the only thing you'll have to endure is name-calling; that they won't be able to hex you or hit you?"

Severus stared at her, "There isn't a way for you to do that."

"You're avoiding the question."

"You won't let it drop." He retorted. They stood staring at each other for another long silence, "I might." He said finally, "It depends."

Wren smirked, she knew he wouldn't refuse, even if he said he didn't like it, "Depends on what?" She asked innocently.

"Don't play stupid, Wren. It depends on what your solution is." Severus had a feeling he knew where this was going, and it felt a lot like blackmail of a sort.

"Ride with me." She said, still smirking.

"…I knew it. Please tell me you're kidding." Severus stared at her through a curtain of his hair. She just stared back. "Oh come off it. It won't work."

"Yes it will," Wren said, "James and Sirius are the only ones you need to worry about; Tonks, Lily and Remus won't mind you hanging out, and James and Sirius will be scared that they could hit me, or knock me off of the broom if they go for you. They probably won't be close enough to yell at you half the time either. It'll be like they're not even there."

Severus sighed, and tucked his hair behind his ear, frustrated. She did have a reasonable argument, and even though he'd never admit it to anyone as long as he lived, he rather liked the idea of flying around with Wren. "I don't know, Wren…" His insides were churning. The prospect of being close to those three was annoying, angering, and a bit frightening to Severus, but it was almost equally matched for his fondness of Wren, his newfound friend.

"C'mon…it'll be fine. And fun. I got a Nimbus for my birthday last year." Once again, Severus found himself being pulled along by the hand by Wren, half reluctant, and half willing to go.

_Women,_ Severus thought furiously as they made their way to the Quidditch pitch, _and their freaking manipulative and convincing ways…_

_

* * *

_

BWAHAHAA!! Wren's being manipulative again! But no one worry...Sev won't have to be rushed to the Hospital Wing. He'll be fine, I swear it on my life. If I'm not true to my word, then so help me, because I give you permission to hunt me down and kill me if that happens. Once again, I'll tactfully and ninjaly mention here that I absolutely LOVE reading your reviews. I treasure them all so much! So...you should totally reply, because then, we'll all feel special. Right? Thanks ever so much for reading and putting up with me.


	8. Chapter 8: Scying Fleams

Woo! I think I'm on a roll today! Defeated my writer's block, typed up the last chapter last night, and got this one done this morning! (That, to me, is a day, even though it's technically a night and a day...) So yeah. Hope you all like this one; it's more of a fun lightening scene...I think. It is long, but I enjoyed typing it! The caffiene at 3 in the morning probably helped, so Pepsi gets partial credit for helping me turn out this chapter! In case yaw'll are wondering, this chapter is called Scying Fleams, because it's really Flying Screams...or Screaming Flies...I couldn't decide, so that was what I came up with.

**Disclaimer:** Same old, same old. That damned lucky woman Rowling still owns everything, except Wren. I can't even claim that awesome move in Quidditch called the Wronski Feint (or Wonky Faint as Hermione calls it in the 4th HP book). T.T Sho shad...

_"Can you hear it calling?_

_Can you feel it in your soul?_

_Can you trust this longing?_

_And take control, Fly..._

_Hillary Duff, -Fly_

* * *

Wren and Severus arrived at the Quidditch pitch just as Sirius dodged past James and Tonks, scoring a goal. Wren grinned and clapped, "Nice shot!" Severus stood slightly to the side in the shadows, hoping Wren was right. He was having serious second thoughts about the whole thing. 

Wren opened the student storage shed, and rummaged around in the racks until she found her broom. Carrying it back out, she groaned as she saw Sirius and James speeding towards Severus. Wren was much closer to Severus, so she only slightly increased her pace. Potter and Black were almost at them, and Wren took a deep breath before turning away from the oncoming human missiles, to talk to Severus, who she was now standing in front of.

It worked perfectly. Sirius swore loudly, and swerved out of the way to avoid hitting Wren who was now conveniently standing in the way of Severus. He smashed into James, and both of them fell off of their broomsticks; a harmless two feet from the ground. Their brooms landed a short distance away, and Wren grinned widely at Severus, who smiled nervously back, keeping his eyes on the two flying wonders.

"Are you ready then, Severus?" She asked him.

"Yeah…I guess…Listen Wren, are you sure they won't try anything?" He replied nervously. James and Sirius were approaching now with brooms and wands in tow. Both looked seriously pissed off.

Wren nodded firmly, "I'm sure."

Tonks touched down (rather gracefully) a few feet away. Seeing Severus, she raised her eyebrows at Wren, who glanced at Severus, her broom, and then at the two boys storming up and rolled her eyes. Severus blinked. _What?_ He wondered, as Tonks nodded again and smiled. Tonks had gotten the gist of what Wren was trying to say without saying anything, and rushed forwards to Sirius and James.

"Oh no! Are you two okay? That was one hell of a stunt. Why'd you do something so stupid?" She laughed, pulling them both in for a hug and starting to look them up and down. James tried to pull away from her and Sirius looked utterly amazed.

"What are you doing, Tonks?"

"Get off of me!"

But Tonks didn't seem to hear them as she checked them over, giving Wren and Severus plenty of time to get up in the air.

Wren smiled after Tonks as she distracted Black and Potter, and turned back to Severus again. He stared at her, "What the bloody hell was that? Mind reading or something?"

She laughed, "No. That was the female sixth sense." Before Severus had a chance to process this odd bit of information, she hopped on her broom. "Come on then! Get on!"

Severus hesitated as he got on Wren's broom behind her. Where the hell was he supposed to put his hands!? Wren turned halfway around to see him. "Are you going to hold on, or would you prefer to fall off?" She asked smiling. Taking a hold of Wren's shoulders, he shut his eyes and prepared for kick off…but it never came. Opening his eyes, he saw Wren staring at him with barely concealed amusement. She seemed to be rather enjoying herself.

Struck speechless, Severus just stared back at her. Taking his hands in hers, Wren lifted them off of her shoulders, and yanked on them, pulling Severus up the broomstick until he was pressed closer to her. His sallow and pale face immediately began to burn. "I think you'll find that if you scoot up and put your hands here, you won't fall off." She said, smiling at him. She placed his hands around her waist, "Hold on tight, okay?"

Severus just nodded, and tried to breathe regularly. There were butterflies in his stomach, at the anticipation of flying for the first time…or was that because of Wren? He couldn't decide, but at that moment, Wren kicked off from the ground and took to the air. Immediately, Severus yelped, and Wren felt his grip tighten ten-fold as the ground dropped away beneath them. She soared off around the stadium slowly, leaning slightly to adjust its course. "Ah…Severus." She said after a moment.

A small reply came from behind her, "Yeah?"

"You don't have to hold on that tightly." She said, wincing as some slight turbulence bounced them and his grip tightened more.

"Oh….sorry Wren." He said, his cheeks once more turning scarlet.

As they completed their circuit of the stadium, they saw Tonks, James, and Sirius kick off from the ground and speed towards them. Severus was just considering if it would be safer to jump for the ground than to have a head on collision when the three pulled their headlong rush into check.

Wren grinned at them all, "You guys are okay from that fall you had, aren't you?" She asked innocently.

James nodded, completely unaware that it was Wren who had caused Sirius to crash into him; he hadn't seen her.

Sirius however, scowled and crossed his arms, to which Severus had to admit was very courageous. Then again, they were used to brooms and he wasn't. "What's _he_ doing here?" He asked, nodding to Severus, not bothering to conceal the contempt in his voice.

"The same thing as you, I imagine." Replied Wren evenly, "Having some fun."

Sirius snorted, "Sure." He made a gesture as if to pull his wand out of his pocket where it was poking out, and then something that could have been outrage crossed his face as he didn't complete the motion and turned back to stare at Wren.

"Something wrong, Sirius?" She asked pleasantly, watching his bewilderment turn to understanding.

"No…nothing." He said finally, throwing Severus a look that was partially hate, and partially jealousy. Severus couldn't help but smile and shrug at him as Wren waved over at Remus and Lily, both who were trying to figure out who was sitting with her on her broom.

"Well, are we going to play or are we going to sit around all day in midair?" Tonks asked, tossing a Quaffle up and down. Sirius reluctantly tore his gaze away from Severus and Wren, and followed James and Tonks nearer the goals to practice playing as Keepers.

Wren twisted around oddly to look at Severus. "You alright?" She asked him.

"Yeah…fine." Wren smiled, and Severus looked away, embarrassed again. "How fast does this thing go then?" He asked, finally looking back at her.

Wren grinned and turned back to face the front of the broom, "Hold on!" She said, bending low over the broom handle. Severus did as he was told, and they shot forward split second later, the wind whipping them in the face as Wren pulled into a slow climb. They sped around the pitch a few times, and then slowed down. Severus stared around.

Everything was tiny from where they were, and he immediately looked back up as he had a sudden urge to throw up. They were a couple hundred feet in the air, and Wren laughed oddly.

Severus grimaced. He'd heard that sort of laugh. It was the kind that Sirius and James used when they were about to do something extremely dangerous, comical, or stupid. His suspicions were confirmed as Wren let the broom arc, slow down to an almost standstill, and then the angled downwards, and began gaining speed. "Wren!? What are you..." He stopped as she realized she was diving (obvious really). "Wren!" He cried again. "Wren, stop!" She ignored him, yelling happily in excitement as they shot downwards for the ground.

Severus held on tightly and closed his eyes…he didn't want to see when they hit the ground at over a hundred miles per hour. Once more, he waited for something that wasn't going to happen. He felt themselves level out in perfect control, as Wren pulled out of their steep dive, in perfect time, to leave their toes skim along the grass of the field. He opened his eyes, and let out a nervous laugh that was closer to a giggle, as Wren laughed with him, slowing down. "Wasn't that fun?" She asked him, practically bouncing on the broom from the adrenaline rush.

"Yeah…yeah it was." Severus found himself saying, after all, he _had_ enjoyed it. He sighed, and rested his head on her shoulder, "But please don't _ever_ do that again without telling me first!"

Wren grinned and nodded, "I'll remember."

She climbed higher again until they were level with the goalposts, and then, began gaining speed, shooting towards the side that James, Sirius, and Tonks were playing.

For the third time that morning, Severus thought they were going to crash, as they neared the other three flyers with alarming speed. They all stopped to watch Wren and Severus hurtling towards them. Again, at the last moment, Wren pulled up, but this time she went up and up, taking them in an arc. Severus yelled out again, fearing he'd fall off of the broom, but G-force kept both of them attached firmly to the broom as it went upside down and she leveled out again, close to James, Sirius and Tonks, who started flying towards them.

Gasping, Severus found the courage to let go of Wren with one hand to cuff her around the head. "You said you'd tell me!"

Wren squeaked when he whacked her, and twisted around again, grinning wickedly, "Oh…you meant _all_ of the daredevil tricks I know?" Severus scowled and went to whack her again lightly on the head, but she made the broom buck, almost unseating him and he quickly grabbed hold of her waist again.

"WREN!!" He exclaimed, and Wren just giggled. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry. But you had to admit, it was funny."

Severus muttered something about what he considered funny and what he considered stupid. She playfully bucked the broom again, and his grip tightened again, but he didn't say anything.

The others had reached them, and James immediately started complimenting her Wronski Feint, saying how he'd only done it a few times, and that was without another person with him. Tonks joined in, commenting on it as well, but Sirius smirked at Severus, edging his broom closer. "Bet you enjoyed that. I wonder if you screamed loud enough though? Someone in Romania might not have heard you."

Severus smirked back, "Bet you enjoyed watching me fly around with Wren, didn't you, Black? Bit jealous, perhaps, are we?" Sirius looked murderous, but just then, James poked him in the cheek.

"Oi! Padfoot! We're going to take a break. You coming?" He asked, once again oblivious to the conversation that had just transpired.

All five students landed safely in the bleachers, and Severus stretched, un-cramping his stiff arms. Wren handed him her broom, walked a little ways down the bleachers and beckoned Sirius over, who grinned widely at Severus as he passed.

Lily started talking to Severus, asking how his Charms were improving, and struck up a conversation with him.

Wren glanced over Sirius' shoulder to make sure no one was within hearing distance. She only then just noticed the grin plastered on his face. Wren frowned, "I just wanted to talk, Sirius."

Sirius thrust his hands into his pockets, "'Bout what?"

"About your murmured conversation with Severus a moment ago." Wren replied.

Sirius just smirked, "What of it? It was all true, he was screaming like a girl, er…" He glanced at Wren, and started to continue, but she cut in.

"Look, I don't care if you hate each other, I really don't, but don't drag me into your feud as well. Don't use me as a way to get to each other, alright?"

Sirius muttered something that could have been an "okay", and Wren continued. "I've known you both for only a few days and I'm already very fond of you both, and it would be wonderful if you could just be civilized for once and not try to beat each other to bloody pulps." Sirius grudgingly nodded his consent, and Wren nodded back, before giving him a big hug. Startled, Sirius patted her back awkwardly.

Drawing away, Wren grinned, "So…Padfoot eh? Is that your nickname?" Sirius glanced behind him nervously, and nodded again.

_Padfoot…_ That triggered something in Wren's mind, and she gazed at Remus for a long moment. _He was reading that book on the train…he already knew a lot about them, and Severus almost let something slip yesterday about Remus…_ The conversation floated back across her mind. _"And Remus…That were-- …" Of course…_It made sense. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she casually said, "When's the next full moon? It's in…three days, isn't it?" She asked.

"Four." Said Sirius without thinking. _Oh. SHIT._ He thought, mentally kicking himself.

"Odd…Not many people take to remembering the phases of the moon and when they are, now that there're calendars."

Trying to redeem his mistake, Sirius nodded, "Yeah…calendars. I was looking at mine this morning and noticed it was in four days." He shrugged, hoping his lie would work. Wren slowly nodded, "Ah." She walked silently back to the others, and joined Lily and Severus, who were still discussing Charms. Sirius followed her, nodded slightly to Severus, who blinked and frowned wonderingly at him, and stood listening to Remus', James', and Tonks' conversation.

They all talked together for a few hours, Severus being, much to his surprise, included in most of it. Finally, they all hopped on their brooms, and took off towards the shed at the entrance to the Quidditch pitch. James had Lily riding double, Sirius had taken off already and was flying in loop-the-loops and corkscrewing while he waited for them to catch up, Severus was once again with Wren, and Remus, much to his embarrassment and Tonks' pleasure, rode with her.

Stowing their brooms away, they headed back for the castle, and a nice big lunch.

* * *

Thankies for reading! Please please please reply! I am VERY open to suggestions right now (always have been, but now more so) because I can feel the Writer Block Spawn from Hell coming for me. Some suggestions on what to do next (perhaps a scene you'd like to read? Or a fight? Or something?) would be very appreciated, and I'm sure at least one of you has noticed that Wren has no last name yet. That's because I suck at names...Wren came to me out of the blue when I was typing. (Any surname suggestions will be considered, and if yours is the only one there, and it's fairly good, I'll use it!) Thanks for yer time, and I sure hope you enjoyed this chapter; I did! And hopefully stuff makes sense to you. In a nutshell, Severus and Sirius both like Wren, but (for now) she only sees them as good friends; Wren is catching on very quickly that Remus is a werewolf; and I'm slowly going insane!! A toast to my sanity. We shall miss it, but not for very long. TO INSANITY AND BEYOND!! Cheers. 


	9. Chapter 9: Lycanthrope Love

C'mon people...I know you're there...I can hear you breathing. And I've seen you adding my story to your watch list. Oh yes...I am a psychic ninja, don't forget. But seriously...would it really hurt to just say: "I like it! Keep going!" or "You SUCK. GO DIE." Really...I'll take it all! Flames, happy reviews, angry yelling, all of it! Pleeeeeeeeeease! I feel so alone when no one says anything. It's like...sad! Love you all! Thanks for reading.

_"A brief embrace and fear and restraint have all gone,_

_Innocence burns, -yes a fire that burned all along._

_See the doors about to swing both ways,_

_See the answer mirrored in her gaze."_

_The Damned, -Shadow of Love_

* * *

The next day, Wren met Severus down at the great hall for breakfast. He'd agreed to give her a tour of the castle, but halfway through breakfast, remembered he had to return some books to the library and had ran off, leaving Wren staring after him.

She wandered up and down the entrance hall, nodding to random students as they passed her for a few minutes, trying to find something to do. Something found her in the form of an anxious Remus bursting out of the great hall, moments after Wren had walked by it. He didn't speak, but looked around wildly, grabbed her by the arm, and tugged her into an empty classroom.

"What's wrong, Remus?" Wren asked, alarmed. "Are you okay?" Remus stared at her wide eyed, and Wren surveyed him oddly. The silence stretched out between them.

"Aren't you scared?" He asked suddenly, and Wren knew what he was getting at.

"Sirius talked to you then, I presume." She said, "And no, I'm not scared. From what I know of them, werewolves are very pleasant people to be around. My grandfather's one, and he and I are close enough to be brothers if you discard the fact that he's about 70 years older than me." She smiled at Remus.

Remus' eyes widened to the size of saucers when Wren mentioned her grandfather, but he had more pressing matters to check first. He didn't want the whole school knowing. "Did you tell anyone?" He asked, glancing back out into the corridor before stepping farther inside the room.

"Of course not, Remus. Who would I tell? The only people I know already know, and my room-mates don't like me. Besides, I wouldn't tell anyone anyways. You probably don't want people knowing." She replied, patting him on the shoulder. Remus relaxed and sat down on a desk.

"Yeah. Thanks, Wren." He ran a hand through his light brown hair shakily.

"James called Sirius 'Padfoot' yesterday. Is he a werewolf too?" Wren asked after a long moment of silence. She'd been wondering about it, and that was all she could think of to explain the odd nickname.

Remus gave a short, nervous laugh, "No…" He hesitated, eyeing Wren. Could he trust her? He shouldn't tell her that Sirius and James were Animagi, not after her finding out about his status as a werewolf on the same day. They could tell her later, when they knew for sure or not if she could be trusted, or might not at all. "That can wait for another day." Wren nodded, and then grinned at someone behind Remus who stood with his back to the door.

"Hi Remus, Hi Wren." Tonks said, entering the classroom, smiling brightly. "What're you doing?"

"Remus was just asking me if I'd like a tour of the school." Wren lied quickly, unsure if Tonks knew about Remus. Glancing at Remus, he gave her a relieved look and out of the corner of her mouth said, "Doesn't know." Wren nodded slightly.

Tonks raised an eyebrow, "I thought Snape was going to show you around, Wren."

"He was, but he had to…" Remus thought fast, trying to think of something to invent to keep Tonks from getting suspicious, "…he had to go return some books to the library." He finished lamely.

Wren smirked widely, as Remus unknowingly told the truth when he'd intended to lie. As they exited the room, Remus whispered to her, "Where _did_ that idiot run off to?"

"To the library, to return books." She replied, closing the classroom door.

"No…where is he really?" Remus asked, hoping he could take them on a course that would mean they didn't run into him. Wren just smiled and repeated herself. "He's actually there?" He asked incredulously.

"Who's where?" Tonks asked. She'd set off down the hall but turned back when Wren and Remus didn't follow.

Remus winced, "No one." Tonks didn't look convinced, and seemed more skeptical than ever. "Were you looking for one of us?" He asked the first thing that came to mind to try and pull her away from her own questions.

"Ah. I was actually looking for both of you. I wanted to know if you'd like to join Lily and I later to have one of those 'girl' talks, Wren. To get to know each other better and catch up on what happened over the summer…that sort of stuff." Tonks replied, speaking mostly to Wren, who grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "And I wanted to…that is, I was hoping…you…" Tonks stuttered, talking this time to Remus.

Wren slowly backed away a polite distance as Tonks tried to form words, guessing what she was trying to ask. _I know how you feel, mate, and believe me…It's harder to ask when other people are around…Good Luck! _She thought, and smiling at the bewildered Remus, and winking at the nervous Tonks, she said, "I think I saw Severus down this corridor…I'll go see if it was him."

Tonks stared after Wren like a puppy being abandoned, but only got an encouraging smile as Wren waved and disappeared around the corner.

(A/N: We interrupt this fanfiction to bring to your attention the fact that this chapter is now turning to a Tonks/Remus P.O.V, so you aren't all hopelessly confused. Thank you for your time, and we now return to our original fanfic.)

-----

_Don't go! Don't leave me! Aggggg…why'd I decide to do this? What if he says no? What if he doesn't want to ever talk to me again?_ Tonks thought desperately, watching Wren disappear around the corner. She slowly turned to look at Remus, who'd backed up in embarrassment against the wall, and she blinked. _Why's he acting like this? Oh yeah…I accidentally kissed him last night._ The memory brought a smile to her face, accompanied by a blush.

Remus seemed to be remembering too, for he quickly looked away as a similar pink tinge covered his own face.

"Remus…I wanted to ask you…if you'd…you'd…" Tonks broke off as she concentrated on ordering her brain to function properly. Remus looked back at her, and the blush on their faces deepened.

-----

_Is she trying to ask me out?_ Remus wondered amazed as Tonks battled with herself to speak. _What am I going to say? Should I tell her about my…condition? Will I hurt her feelings if I say no? Do I WANT to go out with her?_ His mind whirled around, and he realized Tonks was staring at the ground, and that he was staring at her hair, which was rapidly changing colors.

"I'm sorry, Remus. I don't know what I was thinking…stupid…it was stupid…" Tonks finally said, and she turned to leave. Immediately, Remus knew the answers to his questions. She _was_ trying to ask him out, he _would_ tell her about his 'furry little problem' as James referred to it, and he _wouldn't_ hurt her feelings because he was going to answer '_yes_'.

He stepped forwards, his mind made up, and he took her hand. She turned to stare at him; now her hair was bright red to once again match her face. "I should have realized it sooner, Tonks. I've been really stupid and oblivious…And I'm sorry." He smiled awkwardly and squeezed her hand, opening the recently shut classroom door and guiding her in. He watched her, concentrating on breathing normally, and released her hand. _Let her ask…_ He told himself.

-----

Tonks looked around the room like she'd never properly seen it; she looked everywhere but Remus, trying to work things out. Once she caught his eye and he smiled nervously, which she returned with one of her own. The silence weighed heavily on them as they waited for the other to speak. _He knows…he knows I want to ask him out._ Was all she could think. That soon lead to other questions. _…Then why is he still here? He must want to go out with me. Why else would he still be here? He's going to say yes!_

Those thoughts allowed her mouth to finally unfreeze and she stood up straighter. "The Weird Sisters are playing at The Three Broomsticks next weekend. Will you go with me?" She asked, proud that her voice only quivered once or twice.

There was silence. _Oh no…now he definitely hates me…_

-----

Remus closed his eyes for a brief moment. _She asked me…_ His face was burning red by now, but it was in pleasure, and not as much in embarrassment. He looked at her, and bit his lip. _She deserves to know…but does she need to know now?_ He wondered, transfixed by Tonks' face. _How didn't I realize how beautiful she was? Why'd it take me so long?_ He suddenly stepped forwards, and pulled Tonks into a big hug.

"I'd love to go with you, Nymphadora Tonks." He murmured into her ear, "But you need to know something before you decide to have a relationship with me."

"What?" Tonks asked, forgiving him for calling her by her first name. She wrapped her arms around his back, returning his hug, grinning.

Remus hesitated. _Am I really about to tell her something that could ruin it all? That could destroy our friendship and bring about the downfall of anything to come after it?_ Again, the answer was clear in his mind. _Yes I am. She deserves to know._

"Tonks…" He whispered, wondering how to phrase his issue, and then decided on cold hard and blunt truth. "I'm a werewolf. I got bitten when I was little." He pulled back to look at her reaction, one that didn't look too promising. Tonks' mouth was wide open, and she was partially frowning at him, as if to see something she'd missed before. He looked away sadly. "I understand. I didn't think you'd want to go out with me after you kne--" Remus stopped mid-sentence as Tonks reached up, and ran her fingers through his hair once. He stared at her; now his mouth was hanging open, in shock.

The next thing either of them knew, their lips were locked together as they kissed again, this time on purpose. Tonks was practically grinning through the kiss, and Remus' surprise at her actions slowly melted into happiness. Finally, they drew back for air, and Remus swallowed.

"Then again…I've been wrong before." He smiled, and Tonks replied with another kiss, this one slower, and not as rushed as the other, both of them exploring the other's mouth at their leisure.

Eventually, they grew content with standing together, hugging. Tonks' head was nuzzled against Remus' shoulder and neck, and he was running his hand through her hair slowly (which had reverted to it's normal shade of ultra-violet).

* * *

D'AWWWW!!! I loved this one personally...I think it's cute! Anyways, you should most definetely tell me what you think...because if you've stuck with me reading this fanfic for this long, you should be able to take a couple more seconds to yell or applaud, don't you think? Thanks ever so for reading! Love you all! 


	10. Chapter 10: Prank of the Day

Well...here we are again! Thanks for reading as always, and for this and last chapter, I forgot to put in a disclaimer...so here's that:

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything except Wren and...yeah. Wren's it. Same goes for the last chapter too, since I'm too lazy to go back and re-edit it again.

_"Selfishly hated, No wonder you're jaded._

_You can't play the victim this time,_

_And you're too late."_

_Evanescence, -Call Me When You're Sober_

* * *

Remus and Tonks found Wren late through lunch, apologizing for being so long. She repeatedly told them that it was fine, all three of them with grins on their faces, each of them knowing what had transpired (Wren having guessed it easily, considering they were unconsciously holding hands, and kept glancing sideways at each other), but none would say it outright.

Glancing around, Wren saw Professor Dumbledore had Professor Slughorn engaged in what seemed to be a very interesting conversation, while Professor McGonagall was silently eating her roast duck. A few other professors Wren didn't know were also talking and eating.

Wren returned to her Ravenclaw table when it became clear that she wasn't going to get much conversation out of the two love-struck teenagers sitting across from her at the Gryffindor table. Wren caught Remus watching Tonks eat worriedly, like he was wondering about something he did.

She glanced over at them again, to see Remus whisper something in her ear. She definitely saw him form the word 'werewolf', and saw Tonks sigh exasperatedly and shake her head firmly. She smiled to herself. Remus had obviously been double and triple checking that Tonks was still okay with him being a werewolf…and Tonks obviously still didn't care.

Wren was just digging into a chicken leg when James and Sirius came streaking into the great hall, practically falling over they were laughing so hard. Wren turned all the way around in her seat, so that she was facing the Gryffindor table, and watched as the two boys collapsed on the benches between her and Remus.

"Okay…what's happened?" Remus asked, leaning on his hand.

It took a moment for either of them to reply, but they didn't have to. Severus had just swept into the great hall, and sat down at his table. He was followed by a roar of laughter from everyone in the hall, teachers excluded. Wren and Tonks didn't seem amused either. His head and shoulders were soaked, and there was a small strip of toilet paper hanging off of his shoulder. Glancing up at the others, he threw them all looks of disgust and utter loathing before starting to eat fast.

"You didn't…" Tonks said, and she didn't sound at all convinced otherwise.

"We did. That swirly and toilet papering is the handiwork of yours truly!" Sirius grinned, pointing to James and himself. "It was wonderful…we ambushed him, and levitated him upside down…" Sirius went on to describe their tormenting in vivid detail, demonstrating with an apple, pumpkin juice and spaghetti noodles.

Remus couldn't help but grin as he listened. Severus wasn't the nicest person to be around, and he'd never forget the time when he'd threatened to tell the whole school about his werewolf problem. That had been two years ago, but still…he hated him for that; for making him literally sick with worry.

Wren slowly stood from her seat and quietly made her way unnoticed from the Ravenclaw table and the others, to Severus at the Slytherin table.

-----

_Great…what now? _Severus wondered sarcastically as he heard someone sit down quietly beside him. He refused to look at them, but continued to eat his food as if no one was there. People were still snickering at him, and he felt a new wave of humiliation wash over him every time someone did so. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him, and he looked over at the person next to him. _Wren…_ He scowled at her. "What do you want?" He stabbed the salmon on his plate angrily, imagining Potter and Black in its place.

Wren leaned forwards, "Are you okay, Severus?" She pulled off the wet paper from his shoulder and let it fall to the ground.

He turned to glare at her, "I told you, I don't want to be fucking pitied like some lost puppy! I _also_ told you not to come near me! This is humiliating enough without being seen with _you_!" He snapped. Grabbing his bag, he leapt up from the table, and for the second time that day, left Wren staring after him.

-----

_I didn't know I was so horrible to be around…_Wren thought bitterly as Severus left. _He could have just asked me to leave him alone…he didn't have to explode like that._ She suddenly stood up, and left the hall too, heading off up the stairs and through the castle, holding back the tears that she knew were coming.

Stopping by a suit of armor that she'd passed more than a few times, she sighed. _Isn't there somewhere in this place that I can be left alone in? Where I can deal with my feelings?_ She wondered, as she ducked out of sight from Tonks who passed down the corridor adjoining hers. Tonks was calling for her, but Wren didn't want to talk. Severus' words stung…she hadn't meant to humiliate him further, and she _knew_ she hadn't been 'pitying' him. _Seriously…all I did was ask if he was alright._

Standing up straight as Tonks disappeared, she started off towards the opposite corridor, but stopped before she'd even taken a few steps. There to her left was a door that she was sure hadn't been there the last three times she'd walked by. Curious, she opened the door and peeked inside.

It was just like something she'd imagined. There were big sofas in the room, and tins upon tins of chocolate, of every kind you could imagine. There were big pillows there, and magazines. Huge windows showed the grounds outside, even though she knew perfectly well that she was somewhere deep inside the castle. Sitting down on one of the couches, she ate a bit of chocolate, and let the tears come. Eventually, she fell asleep hugging one of the big cushions.

-----

He threw the book across the table in frustration. Nothing would be able to distract him from thinking about Wren. _I'm such an asshole…_ Severus thought, picking up the book and ramming it back onto the shelf. After smacking himself on the head a few times, he picked up his bag and left the library. _I'll find her at dinner, and apologize, even if it means sitting by Potter and his wonderful gang._

But Wren didn't come down to dinner. He watched and waited, keeping his eyes fixed so much on the doors that he spilled half of his food down him and had to constantly use a charm to wipe his robes clean again.

Finally, he left, rushing up the stairs two at a time. There was only one other place he could think of that she might be.

* * *

Hmm...

I wish I had a Room of Requirement.


	11. Chapter 11: I'm Sorry

**Disclaimer:** We know how it goes. If I owned Rowling's world we'd be in ocean deep trouble. Only Wren suffers from me, for she is mine.

Right...3rd chapter in one day...WOOT! Enjoy, my dears, enjoy.

_"What do I say when it's all over?_

_Sorry seems to be the hardest word."_

_Blue, -Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word_

* * *

Somehow, Wren had managed to find the owlery again after waking up in the Room of Requirement. She still felt saddened that Severus had been so rude, but she was over it for the most part.

Moving to the large window in the owlery, she stared out at the forbidden forest, watching little birds flying back to roost in their favorite trees, and deer cautiously coming out to steal nibbles from the vegetable patch. An owl hooted loudly overhead, and Wren turned to watch a large eagle-owl fly off into the growing darkness. More followed it, and Wren found herself wishing them all safe trips.

As the last one flew out, she heard the door to the owlery close quietly. She turned around, and came face to face with Severus.

-----

"Thought you might be up here." He said quietly, moving to look out of the window with her. He stared off into the distance, frowning._ What to say…what if I just make it worse?_ He sighed, and turned back to Wren. Looking closer at her, he saw her eyes were slightly red, and she wouldn't look directly at him. _Shit…I made her cry too?_

He looked away from her, down at the floor. "Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. I left to go return books…I should have asked you to come with me, and then at lunch I overreacted." He paused, and glanced up at Wren cautiously. "Overreacted completely…you were only trying to help, and I exploded. Then yesterday at the Quidditch pitch, I used you to get back at Black. And I'm really really sorry Wren." He looked at her hopefully, waiting. _What if she's still mad at me? I'll be all alone this year, just like the others…I want her to be my friend…_

-----

_He's apologizing…_ Wren couldn't help but be surprised at him. He was looking at her like he was afraid she'd hit him. _He'd sorta deserve it if I did…_ She thought.

Severus spoke again, "Would you forgive this slimy grease ball of a git?" He asked quietly, choosing to use James' favorite catcall for him.

Wren smiled and then laughed, "Yeah. I will." She grinned again at the obvious relief her answer caused Severus.

An owl hooted in the night again, and Wren turned to see an owl flying towards the owlery. It had a parcel in it's beak, and dropped it into Wren's surprised arms. Pulling off the letter, she read it through quickly while Severus allowed the owl to perch on his shoulder.

Wren looked from the parcel to the letter, and then to Severus. "You're going to want to read this." She said, grinning, and tossed the parcel to him; the owl flew off with another hoot, back into the night.

* * *

Any guesses as to what's in the parcel? I'll give you a hint. We've seen the object and the person who sent it briefly before, and I'd also like to randomly note here that Wren has a little brother with a curiosity large enough to kill a tiger. 


	12. Chapter 12: Delivery

Is this the one that...yes...it is. Okies! I know where I am. Nyee...Having siblings and friends reading these out of order at random times really can screw with your memory. But I know where I am now, so it's ALLLLLL GOOOOOD.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own them!! PLEASE DON'T SUE ME ROWLING!! Or anyone else for that matter. Wren and Mrs. Gunney (who is only briefly mentioned again), are copyrighted...ish...to moi.

* * *

Severus stared at the parcel in his hands, feeling along the edges and weighing it up and down. It seemed to be some sort of book. He glanced up at Wren and raised his eyebrows at her. "Open it!" She encouraged, practically grinning. Turning the parcel over in his hands, he ripped it open, allowing the paper covering the book (for it was indeed a book) to float to the ground.

He stared at it in shock, and opened it slowly, flicking the pages over and over. Some of them were loose pieces of parchment that had been ripped out during it's fall, but they were back in their correct places. Closing the book, Severus clutched it to his chest. There could be no mistaking it…it was his book; the one that he'd worked so hard on all summer, and the same one that Sirius had thrown out of the Hogwarts Express.

Wren smiled, and held out the letter to him, but he didn't take it. For a long moment, Severus just stared wide-eyed at Wren, and then the next thing she knew, he was hugging her. One arm clutched the book to his chest, while his other was wrapped around Wren's torso and pinned her to him also. She smiled at him, and returned his hug.

Severus pulled away quickly, and smiled fully at her, his dark eyes sparkling. Wren blinked. _I've never actually seen him smile…not like this._ She held the letter out to him again, and this time, he took it. "You know, Severus…" Wren said slowly, hoping she wouldn't make him mad, "If you smiled more like that…well…" She trailed off, not quite sure if she should say anything after all.

-----

"Well what?" He asked, curiously. _Wren normally finishes her thoughts…she doesn't just stop in the middle._ He didn't even glance at the letter in his hand, but waited for Wren to continue on.

"I thought…it's just…you're so…" Wren struggled with her words, the only thing her brain would process was that he really was very handsome when he smiled. She was sure that he could get the school's entire population of girls to chase after him, if he tried.

He raised one of his long black eyebrows, still smiling brightly. He moved a bit closer to Wren and stared down at her, watching her curiously. _This sure is new…what's gotten into her?_ He wondered, as Wren now turned slightly pink.

"You're just so cute when you smile like that." Wren finally managed, looking up at him and smiling herself.

Severus felt himself go red again, and he shrank back from Wren. He couldn't help but smile wider; he'd never had a compliment anywhere in the vicinity of the one she'd just given him. "Um…thanks…?" He said quietly, not sure what to say.

Deciding to shove his way past the awkward moment, he looked down at the letter, his eyes finding their way down to the writer of it first. "Who's Theo?" He asked, looking back up at Wren.

Wren smiled, "Theodore…He goes by Theo. He's my younger brother…he's 7, and he's got a curiosity great enough to kill a pride of lions."

Severus smirked, but returned his attention to the letter, now extremely curious as to how Wren's younger brother had come to find his book. Quickly, he began to read.

_Wren,_

_I hope you're okay at Hogwarts. I was very happy to receive your letter, and I'm glad you're settling in all right. Wish I'd been there for that food fight you started. I'll bet it was fun._

_Mum and Da are both gone on business trips at the moment; they won't be back until next week, but that's okay. Don't worry about me. I'm doing fine at home…it's just me and Top here, as well as the animals. We've been taking them all on rides or flights everyday, and so far we haven't had any bad accidents. One of Rowan's shoes came off during a ride, but Top put a new one on as soon as we got back. Tipp's still acting weird, and she's getting really fat. I think she's pregnant, but Top's not so sure. When Mum gets back we're going to have her check._

_But anyways, what I was really writing about was something I found when out with Bran. We were out on that trail we found a few years ago, the one near the edge of the forest. I still remember when we snuck out there at night to stick Knuts on the train tracks and then watched the trains go by and flatten them for us. But like I said, I was riding through the trees, and I confess, I was hoping to see your train go by on it's way to your new school. I was already missing you, even though it'd only been a mere hour since dropping you at King's Cross._

_I had just made it to the edge of the trees when a red express train rumbled by. I didn't see you, but I figured it was the right train. Just as the last of the cabooses were passing, I turned to leave, but saw something fly out the window. It looked like a book, but I was confused. Why would someone throw a book out of a train? I thought someone might have seen me watching, so I waited until the train had rounded the bend to go and investigate._

_It WAS a book that had been thrown out of the window. I picked it up and put it in a saddlebag, but then I noticed there were pages missing. It took me half an hour to find all of the loose pages, but I think I didn't miss any. Getting home, I got to work reading it, and piecing it back together as I went. It's amazing! The way the author describes the potions and ingredients! They must be very gifted at potions to be able to explain them so well._

_I suppose you're wondering by now why I sent it to you. Naturally, I finished reading it. I stayed up very late the first night I got it, and finished this morning. I assumed that since it is only partially written, and since it was thrown out of your shiny Hogwarts Express, that it belongs to someone there. Perhaps someone thought it'd be funny to toss someone's possessions out the window. As if. Why on Earth would someone find that amusing anyways?_

_I figured that if I sent it to you, Wren, that you'd be able to return the book to it's rightful owner. I've repaired it as best I can, but I'm sure that nifty spell you used for Rowan's bridle will work much better than spell-o-tape. I think it was 'reparo', but I can't remember for sure. Try it and see. _

_I hope you find the owner…the only thing I found to help you with was that in the top corner of the back page was 'S.S., the Half-Blood Prince'. S.S. must be their initials, but why Half-Blood Prince? Ah well…at least it will be easier to find them now you have initials to go by._

_Congratulations on making it into Ravenclaw! I hope you're making some good friends there. Bran misses you, as do I, and Stoney seems saddened that you're away too. He's been a bit on the grumpy side as well lately, and you were always best at keeping him calm. Oh well._

_Write back soon, okay? Love you, Wren. I miss you._

_Theo_

Severus looked up at Wren, and then stared out the window. He grinned as he thought of the other compliments he'd just received from Wren's brother. Her family seemed very nice, from what he could tell.

Once again, a silence mounted between the two sixth years, and Severus glanced back at the letter in an attempt to find something to say.

"Um…Tell your brother thank you for me, won't you? And what do your parents do then? Your brother said they were gone on business trips…and who are Top, Rowan, Tipp, Bran and Stoney? What does he mean by 'rides and flights'?" Severus suddenly had a million and one questions to ask Wren, and he half-smiled apologetically.

-----

Wren smiled. She'd been expecting questions…maybe not this many, but she was fairly sure they'd come. "I certainly will tell him for you." Wren said, "But may I suggest we make our way downstairs? I don't think it's smart to be up after hours again. And we have classes tomorrow." Silently, Wren groaned at that thought. No one had ended up giving her a tour of the place.

Severus was obviously thinking along the same lines, for he said, "I can show you to our classes, since we have the same ones. And I promise to give you a tour as soon as possible."

Wren nodded, and they made their way down from the owlery, and continued slowly towards the Ravenclaw dormitories. "Let's see then. My father works at the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Magical Creatures. My mother works as a…well I suppose you could call her a veterinarian…of sorts. She travels around a lot helping people with odd animals or diseases. Top," Wren continued, "Is our nickname for my older brother, Christopher." She grinned, "He's the troublemaker in the family, but he's passed down a lot of his knowledge to me."

"Theo mentioned Rowan and Bran, two of our horses. Rowan's really close to Theo, so I guess you could say Theo owns him. Bran's my horse. We've got six more; Tulip, Boulder, Sticks, Prince, Lucky, and Comet." She glanced over at Severus, and saw an odd expression on his face. He was torn between curiosity and amusement, and Wren gave him a soft punch on the arm. "I didn't name them; only Bran. Blame Top…he always picks out weird names."

Severus grinned, and then frowned slightly, "Then…what about the other two? Tipp and Stoney?"

Wren grinned, "I'm getting there, I'm getting there! Stoney and Tipp are two of our hippogriffs, an--"

"_Hippogriffs_!?" Severus asked incredulously, "You have _hippogriffs_?!"

She smiled, "Yes, we do, but…Shhhh!" Wren said quickly, grabbing Severus and pushing him behind a statue. She pressed her hand to his mouth tightly, and his first reflex was to struggle.

"Severus!" She hissed in the growing dark, "Hold still! She'll hear you!" Wren had glimpsed someone coming down the hallway, and assumed it was a teacher. As the person drew nearer, Wren recognized Mrs. Gunney, the caretaker from Dumbledore's opening speech.

"Wren! What mrr ew ooing! Gerr oof me!" Severus exclaimed, squirming. Wren had her fist practically shoved inside his mouth, and she'd pressed herself up against him and pinned one of his arms in an attempt to get him to be quiet. He hadn't seen Mrs. Gunney, and thought Wren had gone temporarily mental.

"Shut up!" Wren hissed again, "Shut up, shut up, shut up!!" Severus partially obeyed, he stopped struggling, but wouldn't be quiet. Wren didn't like the idea of having detention the first week of school, and knew Severus would probably end up in more trouble. Glancing around the statue, she saw Mrs. Gunney stop at a divide in the hallway. She seemed to be debating which way to go. As she turned to go the opposite way from Wren and Severus, he wrenched his head away from Wren's hand and made an odd and loud noise. Mrs. Gunney turned back to peer down the hallway curiously, and out of desperation, Wren grabbed Severus and kissed him.

Severus stiffened immediately, frozen in shock. She kept him sandwiched between her and the wall, her body pressed against his to keep him still. She pinned his arms to the wall, and kept her lips on his. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Mrs. Gunney, who was still peering down the hall, but with much less interest. _His lips are so soft…_She found herself thinking.

-----

_What in the name of Merlin is she doing?_ Severus wondered frantically as he felt Wren's lips pressed against his own. _Has she completely lost it or something!?_ He felt himself reddening as Wren's body pushed up against his, and as she didn't end their kiss. He opened his mouth without thinking, to say something, and felt Wren's eyes on him.

-----

Wren groaned mentally, _He'll give us away if he doesn't shut it! Great…he's opening his mouth…only one thing for it, although he won't like it._ She drew in a deep breath through her nose, and then shoved her tongue into his mouth and snogged him, silencing further outbursts immediately. _There._ She thought, relieved, as the elderly caretaker moved off down the hall. She waited almost another minute and let herself enjoy kissing the dark haired boy, before a very red and very upset Severus, started squirming even more than he had at first, and she released him.

He wiped his mouth slowly, with a shaking hand. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT!?" He yelled. Wren winced, but Mrs. Gunney was now three floors below them, trying to sneak up on a troublesome Peeves. "You didn't have to do that!"

"That, is called a kiss, my dearest, and you would do well to remember I did it to keep your ungrateful ass out of detention." Wren said softly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "And as a matter of fact, I _did_ have to do that, because you wouldn't bleeding shut up!"

"And _WHY_, pray tell, did I have to shut up in the first place? There was no one there!" Severus pointed down the hall, but the wrong way.

"Oh how clever of you to notice there was no one there, Severus." Wren retorted, "Mrs. Gunney was down _that_ hall." She pointed the other way.

"If you'd just told me that, you wouldn't have had to foul my mouth with yours!" Severus snarled, before he even knew what he was saying.

Wren stared at him, hurt. "I am SO sorry to have put you through this horrible experience. I didn't think you'd have minded that much if someone kissed you for once in your life."

"Yeah, well, I do mind." Severus growled, his temper flaring. Without another word, he stormed off, sweeping down the hall quickly and disappearing behind a tapestry, his cloak billowing out behind him.

Wren almost started after him, but stopped. "Fine." She muttered. "That's fine." She turned then, and headed down the stairs towards her own dormitories. It wasn't the ideal of her first kiss either, but once again, he'd overreacted twice. First when he wouldn't freaking hold still, and then when she kissed him. Miraculously, she found her way to the statue guarding her dormitories, and she entered.

As she climbed into her bed a few short minutes later, Wren realized Severus still had her letter from Theo. _Whatever…_ She thought, feeling too miserable to care at the moment.

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No lyrics this time...but thaaaaaaaaat's okaaaaaaaaaay! Hope ye all enjoyed it, and thankyou to everyone who reviewed! It made me so happy!!!!! 


	13. Chapter 13: All I Wanted

**Disclaimer: **I own no one but my dearest Wren. And sorta Professor Bradley...but my sibling made her up so...that's iffy too. Ah well.

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Wren woke suddenly from her exhausted sleep, by someone throwing their pillow at her. One of the girls smirked at her. "Classes start in ten minutes." The girl grabbed her bag, and exited the room, munching on the toast that was in her hand.

_So nice of them to wake me up before class but after breakfast._ Wren thought angrily. _But I suppose it was nicer than letting me be late to class._ Recent events came swirling into her head, and she suddenly felt terribly exhausted. Sighing, she quickly dressed, and grabbed her school bag before darting out the room and rushing downstairs to the Great Hall. She got there just as everyone else was leaving, and with a groan she saw the tables clearing themselves of food.

Quickly, she looked around at everyone exiting, and caught sight of Severus. He glanced in her direction once, but made no move to go over to her, and turned down a hall less populated with kids. She went the same way; Wren figured that if Professor McGonagall's office was down this hall, that her class would be too. She saw Severus disappear inside an open door, and headed towards it.

She glanced down at her clothes as she walked; they were lopsided and her cape was sliding off of one shoulder. Straightening them and fixing her cloak, she ran her hand a few times through her messy brown hair until it looked fairly presentable. Entering the room, she saw most of the seats were taken, but Lily and James waved to her from where they were sitting next to the windows and gestured to a seat that was open next to them.

She passed Severus, who was sitting in the back of the room, closest to the door. He glared at her as she walked by, and Wren's half formed greeting to him got stuck in her throat.

Transfigurations class was fairly dull, but Wren enjoyed it for the most part. It was nice to compare her results with other kids for once, and to not have to judge by the book.

James finished first, "Like usual." Lily said, rolling her eyes at the turtle she was supposed to be transfiguring into a toaster. Wren just smiled and concentrated harder on her own turtle. By the end of the class period, almost everyone had partially transfigured their turtles. Some had tails instead of plugs, and some still had a tortoiseshell pattern on them instead of being a metallic silver.

The day went on, most classes continuing, it seemed, right from where they'd left off the last year. Most teachers didn't assign homework either, but some did. Ancient Runes was fun; Professor Bradley was a fun loving and good natured teacher, and she handed out parchment to everyone in class, explaining that if they decoded everything on it, that they'd win a prize. Wren finished first, quickly followed by Severus, and Professor Bradley was so thrilled that she gave them both the grand prize of a Honeydukes chocolate bar.

Their Astronomy class wasn't long; the teacher let them out early after showing them their telescopes and assigning a short essay to hand in the next day. Apparently they were to have classes everyday, doing research and studying maps of the stars, but would only come out once or twice a week to view them.

Care of Magical Creatures class was spent discussing the newest laws passed by the Ministry, allowing newer and more dangerous creatures to be domesticated and/or bred. Endangered species like the Hungarian Horntail were talked about; part of the class was against allowing artificial breeding, and some for it. Wren was neutral, but she could see both sides had very fair points. She was also delighted when Professor Grubbly-Plank's assignment was a minimum three foot long essay on a magical creature of choice, describing all aspects of the species as thoroughly as possible, which meant almost no studying and only a slight re-editing of a similar essay she'd done at home on her Hippogriffs.

In Charms, Professor Flitwick had them review the basic charms like summoning, levitating, and banishing. Severus had ignored Wren all day, and continued to do so, even when she beat him to the door in Charms and tried to talk to him. He just pushed past, and went on to Advanced Potions.

Wren got hopelessly lost on her way towards Potions; all the dungeons looked the same to her. The late bell rang, just as she entered the dimly lit classroom. Professor Slughorn looked up from his desk and raised his eyebrows at her, before smiling. "Get lost?" Wren nodded, setting her things down in a chair. Looking around, there were only ten students in the class. Professor Slughorn coughed politely, and Wren turned back to him. "I'll let you off this time, but don't let it happen again, okay? Your assignment is on the board." He added, gesturing behind him.

The potion they were making was terribly complicated, and Wren had absolutely no clue what to do. She was proud, however, when she was able to tell the difference between her beetle eyes and horsefly eggs, which were both called for in the potion. Slughorn made his way around the room, nodding in approval at the potions…until he got to Wren's. "What is this?" He asked incredulously, as he stirred the broth Wren had in her cauldron. It was bright red and very bubbly and thick, almost like lava, but it was ice cold, not at all like the pale violet liquid that everyone else had procured.

Wren felt herself reddening as she replied, "It's a healing potion." She said, pointing to the book lying in front of her.

Slughorn sighed and handed her back the ladle. "Tell me, what class is this, Wren?" He asked loudly, so everyone heard him, whether they openly watched or politely ignored her.

"Advanced Potions." Wren replied evenly, staring straight back into her professor's eyes, denying him the pleasure of making her uncomfortable under his gaze.

"And as it being an _Advanced_ class, wouldn't you say that the students chosen to be in it would know what they were doing?" He bent forwards over the cauldron towards Wren, who nodded slowly. "Then how have you come to be placed in this class, since you so obviously aren't advanced? This is one of the easiest potions we will make in this class, missy, and if you can't make it, then Merlin help you, because it only gets harder from here!"

Wren met his gaze as steadily as she could the whole time, and as they packed up and handed their completed potions to him, Wren saw what was unmistakably a zero under her name. She glanced at Severus, who was packing up his ingredients, but he still wouldn't look at her. _Wonderful…I suppose I'll end up failing, won't that be lovely?_ She followed him upstairs, carefully remembering the turns he took to get back to the ground floor.

The first week of school went on quickly. Wren gave up trying to talk to Severus after the third day, and contented herself with hanging around Lily, Tonks, James, Sirius, and Lupin. They were all in at least one of her classes, but Tonks was in all but two, Lily was in three, and the three boys all had one class with her.

Her essay to Professor Grubbly-Plank was successful; most everyone had done a paper on dragons, as they were the most commonly thought of creature when one was asked to name a magical and potentially dangerous species. When Wren answered her professor's question of how she knew so much about Hippogriffs by telling her that they owned four, she was immediately invited to tea.

Slughorn continued to ridicule Wren in front of the class, and they ended up in three groups of two and one group of three when asked to partner up with someone, leaving Wren alone to try and do the work of two people. That, coupled with the fact that she sucked at potions led to worse and worse situations, one of which earned her a detention. She didn't think that was entirely fair, because she was pretty sure her potion wouldn't have blown up in Slughorn's face and given him a nasty boils if he hadn't added in a unicorn hair, telling everyone that that would sort out her mess. He was wrong, much to Wren's amusement, and she'd spent the next few nights scrubbing out cauldrons for him.

Sirius, James, and Remus disappeared early one evening, James mentioning taking care of Remus' 'furry little problem'. The other Gryffindor girls studying at their table giggled, and whispered amongst themselves, and Wren gleaned enough of their conversation to learn that they believed Remus to have a very large and badly behaved rabbit that needed looking after. Grinning, she returned to her essay, knowing fully well that it was a 'furry werewolf problem' that James was talking about.

A thought came wandering across the void of her mind as she worked, and she paused in her writing to concentrate on it. _Werewolves at the full moon can be harmful, or deadly to humans…they can turn you into one of their own kind. So where do James and Sirius think they're going? It's not like they can go with him when he transforms…_ She thought about it for a long while, but couldn't think of an answer. Shrugging it off, she once more returned to attacking her assignment on the constellation Orion for Astronomy.

Tonks and Remus went out to Hogsmeade that weekend to see The Weird Sisters, accompanied by James and Lily. Sirius had asked a Gryffindor girl out with him, and went as well, leaving Wren completely and utterly alone.

She went to the library and did her homework, working quickly as she studied, took notes, and completed assignments. Afterwards, she went downstairs for dinner. There were hardly any people there, since most were still in Hogsmeade. Apparently, word had spread about The Weird Sisters, and almost everyone had gone to see them. She saw Severus across from her at the Slytherin table, and waved meekly, but he didn't look up from the book he was reading. Sighing, Wren dropped her arm back onto the table and stared sadly at her mashed potatoes, watching the butter slide off of them to soak into her bread.

-----

As soon as Wren looked away from Severus, he looked up. He watched her silently, ready to flick his eyes back to his book at any moment. He still had her letter in his pocket; the one Theo had sent her. Finally, he couldn't stand watching the saddened Ravenclaw across from him, and he got up from the table, as an idea came to him. _Why am I doing this?_ He wondered as he headed for the professor's table. _I'm supposed to hate her._ As he said it to himself, he knew it wasn't true. Memories were whirling through his mind as he turned and walked a short distance to professor Slughorn, the most prominent one being the memory of Wren's lips pressed against his own, and the smell of her hair as she'd pulled away.

_Right._ He pushed the memories away from his mind, and stopped to politely wait for Slughorn to finish the huge bite he'd just taken of chicken. "Excuse me professor, but, could you tell me which potion we're going to start on tomorrow? I think I'm getting a bit sick, and I don't want to be behind."

Slughorn smiled brightly, lapping up Severus' lie like honey, "But of course! We're going to start on a complex sleeping draft tomorrow, it's in chapter 8…I believe…in your potions book. Severus knew immediately which draft he was talking about. Simple to him, but if Wren got it wrong there'd be hell to pay. Lots of the ingredients used in it were rare or expensive, so Slughorn wouldn't be happy if Wren wasted them. She'd have detentions for a month, and Severus was relieved he'd picked today to ask.

He forced the corner of his mouth up in what could have been called a smile and nodded to his professor. "Thank you." With that, he turned, and headed out the hall. Once there, he slid to the floor. _I don't want to talk to her yet…and that dolt Slughorn might get suspicious if I did anyway…so how can I tell her?_ He shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to think, when his hand touched the corner of the letter from Theo.

_I'll send her a note!_ He smiled, and pulled out a piece of parchment, and a bottle of ink and his quill. Scribbling furiously, he finished, and folded the parchment in a complex manner. _Thank you Lily…_ He silently praised the girl's talent with Charms. She'd invented a way to animate notes so that teachers couldn't actually pinpoint the sender of them if they caught them. The only hard thing about it was that you had to be able to fold the paper into origami.

Pulling out his wand, he whispered the charm, and set his folded note onto the floor. The mouse shaped folded note scuttled around once, and then stopped. "Go to Wren." He instructed, and the mouse took off, racing underneath the Ravenclaw table, towards an unsuspecting Wren.

Satisfied, Severus stood up, shouldered his bag, and walked briskly off down the hallway towards his dormitories. _Good luck, Wren._

-----

Wren picked at her food uninterestedly. _I wonder what Severus wanted with Professor Slughorn? Probably to comment on my failure in their class._ Sighing, she stood, and made her way to the door. A flash of movement caught her eye, and she turned to see a little mouse darting along the bench, keeping pace with her. Moving a bit closer, she saw it was made of paper. _A note…_ Wren remembered Lily sending Tonks a paper crane from across the room in Charms the other day.

Grabbing it, it immediately went limp and started unfolding itself in her hand. She waited until it was laid out flat in her palm before reading the small scrawled handwriting on the mostly blank page.

_Wren, in Potions we've got a really hard sleeping draft to make. It's going to take a few days to make, and a lot of the ingredients are valuable and rare. DON'T SCREW IT UP. The potion is on page 749 of our potions book. Read it through, and try to remember what to do. There's some helpful books on it in the library. Ask Madame Pince for them, she'll find them for you._

Wren stopped mid-stride and stared at the paper in her hand. _Who sent me this!?_ She wondered, then smiled. _Well that wasn't really smart, Severus…you could have easily talked to me._ She sighed, finally recognizing the handwriting. "I suppose you still don't want to admit you overreacted again. Then again, you have every right to be mad at me." Wren muttered, screwing her eyes shut and heading for the library before it closed. Her feelings were mixed about what had happened that night. On the one hand, she was hurt that he'd reacted the way he did. Did she really kiss that badly? Or was it something else? On the other hand, she understood how he might feel. She hadn't warned him, and if she was correct, Severus wasn't the type to have been kissed by many girls.

Half an hour later, Wren was curled up in a chair in her common room, reading the books Madame Pince had grudgingly given her. These were slightly better written than her textbook, but still really confusing. She stayed up very late reading, but eventually made her way up to bed, feeling less confused about potions than she had in a long time.

With Severus' 'anonymous' help, Wren managed to get through the next days of potions fairly well, along with staying caught up in her other classes. A very surprised Slughorn received her complete, and rightly made potions at the end of the week. He stared at her suspiciously, but she left with a smirk on her face. On her way by Severus, who was still cleaning up, she slowed down, and briefly touched his hand.

For the first time in a week, Severus looked up at her, mildly surprised. Wren continued on…that was all she'd wanted.

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Yaay! Well, that's that. Thanks for reading! 


	14. Chapter 14: Doorway to Memories

**Disclaimer: **Look...if you haven't gotten it by now, then you're a bit on the silly side of life. No one's mine. If they were, well...Nyeee. Wren's mine. But she isn't here in this chapter, so whatever...

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Severus tried and failed multiple times through the next week to understand why Wren had touched him. _If she'd wanted to talk, then why hadn't she?_ He wondered, only to answer his own question. _She probably figures I still hate her…which I do._ He would frown and decide that was that, but then more questions would spring forth to take the place of his answered one…and these he couldn't begin to fathom answers to. _So if she thinks…no…knows that I still don't want to see her, then why'd she touch my hand? Why did she just walk off? What did she want from me?_

He sighed, concentrated harder on his potions essay, and tried to ignore his odd feelings towards Wren. Pulling a book towards him, he stared unseeingly at the table of contents. _Would she forgive me?_ He shivered visibly as he remembered what he'd said to her. His musings were interrupted, as a shadow was cast across the book he was 'reading'. Looking up, he saw Tonks standing in front of him.

She met his gaze steadily for a long minute, before sitting down next to him in one of the large armchairs common to the library. "I wanted to talk to you, Snape." She said quietly, watching him closely.

He felt really uncomfortable with Tonks staring at him, "What if I don't want to listen? I care about my grades, unlike some people. I don't have time." He snarled, reverting to his cold demeanor.

Tonks looked away and sighed, "You don't have to listen; I won't force you. But I'm here on Wren's behalf."

Severus raised an eyebrow, and before he could speak Tonks continued, seeming to read his mind. "She doesn't know I'm here. I came on my own, but what I meant was that I wanted to talk to you about her." When Severus didn't object, but shifted somewhat uneasily in his chair, she continued. "I'm worried about her. She isn't talking as much as she normally does, not in public anyways. We've become good friends over the last few weeks, and when we're alone she talks a lot." Tonks paused, trying to find the right words to continue.

"Seems you've got everything under control. You're more of a friend than I am." Severus commented dryly, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. Tonks didn't miss it.

"She told me what happened."

Severus knew exactly what Tonks meant, and he glanced up at Tonks before looking away, feeling his face grow hot. _That was private. Between us._ Tonks leaned closer to him, "I know how you must feel, I remember third year; you figured out what Remus is, and those idiotic boys never let you forget it." Severus glared at her, but Tonks continued on, "And fourth year, when they convinced Lily to play along with that stupid joke." Severus stood up, stuffing his things into his bags as fast as he could. Tonks sensed he was about to run for it, and she talked faster. "Fifth year, when they humiliated you in front of everyone, and then later in the year with Pettigrew--"

"SHUT UP!" Severus yelled, turning away from Tonks. He only got three steps when Tonks grabbed his arm. He turned angrily to her, wrenching his arm away from her.

"Hear me out, Snape. Just hear me out." She pleaded, and Severus waited grudgingly. "We remember those things. We were there when they happened, but Wren wasn't. I never told her about any of that stuff, even though we're best friends, and even though she's asked me hundreds of times." Severus started backing away, but stopped again when Tonks spoke.

"She doesn't know. She didn't mean to hurt you. She didn't know what sorts of memories she'd stir up. And if she did, I'm sure she wouldn't have kissed you. Wren only did what she thought was best, being stuck in a situation like that and only a moment's thought." Tonks watched Severus, whose eyes were glazed over and fixed on the floor, remembering.

Finally, he looked back at her, "I still don't know why you wanted to find me." He said slowly.

Tonks sighed, "Only this: that Wren has no idea she upset you in that way. She thinks it's her fault you're mad at her; and I would too, considering the things you said. You probably blame her and would say it's her fault as well, but it's really you. You don't want to deal with your past, so you've chosen to ignore the only person who was the closest thing you had to a friend. She misses you; she says it every evening when she, Lily and I talk. Lily thinks it's a bit odd, but that's Lily for you. She doesn't like you, for similar reasons you no longer speak to Wren."

By this time Severus was shaking badly. Tonks' words scared him…he knew she was right, but he didn't want to admit it.

"Talk to her. Forgive her. Tell her why you reacted the way you did."

Severus glared daggers at Tonks, but Tonks just threw a similar look back to him. Nothing he did would faze her and make her leave, and he couldn't get his legs to work. "Why?" He asked, "Why should I tell her? She'll just hate me. She'll blame me."

Tonks gave him a look that could have pierced diamonds. "Not everyone blames you for what happened." She said softly. "Just because James and Sirius can't see past their noses doesn't mean everyone else is the same way."

Severus couldn't help but twitch his mouth into the shadow of a smile. Tonks moved even closer to him, seeming to size him up. "I really don't know what Wren sees in you, but she sees something." Severus didn't know quite how to react to that proclamation, so he ignored it. "Look. Just ask her to listen to you. She will. Tell her what happened. You're going to have to open up to someone at some point in your life, or you'll explode." Tonks smiled widely, patted Severus on the shoulder, and then silently left the library, nodding to Madame Pince, who nodded stiffly back.

Quickly, Severus made his way out of the library, and then slid down the side of a wall to stare numbly at the floor. _Can I tell her? What if Tonks is wrong? What if I screw up, and she tells everyone? Can I really divulge my deepest secrets and worst fears to someone I've only known a mere month?_ Despite Severus' misgivings, he knew Wren deserved the truth, at the very least. And he'd give it to her.

* * *

Oo Angst...Let me know what ye thought, I'd love to know! And it's okay if you're confuzzled. This is where my evil blood-sucking parasitic plot bunny comes into play. Well...sorta. It's more of a little harmless piece of fur. You'll see. ONWARD, MY FRIENDS!! ONWARD!!! CHAAAAARRRRGGGEEE!!!! ...I need to sleep. 


	15. Chapter 15: Advancing in Potions

This chapter skips ahead another few weeks...I think. But anywho...they've all been at Hoggywarts about two months...which makes it...November. Yaay! Please don't hate me for the randomness, okay? Pleeeease.

**Disclaimer:** This'll be the last one, lasting the rest of this fic. I own absolutely none of J.K. Rowling's world, people, or anything else in that vicinity. I only own Wren, her family...and yep. That's it. Oh, and Professor Bradley, the Ancient Runes teacher, and Mrs. Gunney, the care taker. I'm done now.

* * *

The next weeks dragged by slowly for both Wren and Severus. Wren constantly was happy and sad, her moods changing quickly as she struggled with her new friends, and trying to deal with Severus' silent treatment. Severus was trying to find a way to get Wren on her own. She was always with someone, be it Tonks, Lily, Remus, Sirius, or James. He figured their potions class was his best bet to ask her to talk to him, but all of the potions they'd been doing required total concentration, and Slughorn wasn't having them pair up as of late.

Wren loved her new friends dearly; Tonks was always ready to listen to her problems with her dorm-mates, and with school work. They and Remus, and occasionally Lily, Sirius, or James, would join them in the library to do homework and study for tests.

Tonks was very happy to be with Remus, who was just as happy about it, and they would sometimes take long quiet strolls around the lake in the evening. Wren was happy for them, and for Lily and James, although their public displays were somewhat annoying. She'd turn the corner, and there they'd be, snogging each other for everyone to see. She and Sirius would joke about it, telling them to go find a room.

Sirius had asked Wren out multiple times over the last week, deciding he couldn't take 'no' for an answer. Wren was explaining it to him for the thousandth time in a whispered conversation during Charms class.

"Listen, Sirius. You're a great friend, but that's all. I don't want a love relationship with you." She smiled when he opened his mouth to ask why, and interrupted him before he'd gotten halfway, "You're not my type for one, and I don't want to ruin our friendship, that's all."

Sirius again started to counter-attack, but again was interrupted. "Look, please stop asking me, okay? If I ever _am_ interested, I'll tell you, alright?" Sirius finally admitted defeat, and nodded dully. Wren gave him a quick hug and ruffled his hair, and he cheered up slightly. That, coupled with the fact that he won Gryffindor house 15 points during the Charms lesson made him walk out of the door happier than a monkey with a bushel of bananas.

Tonks made an indistinguishable noise, and Wren grinned and rolled her eyes. "Ah…men…what would we do without them?" Severus passed them at that moment, and it took all of his self control to not turn and look back at her. Wren's mood dropped a few levels. "That's right…Potions next with that idiot of a professor."

Tonks gave her a sympathetic smile and hugged her. "You'll be fine, like always." Wren rolled her eyes again and smiled, returning her friend's hug.

"If your definition of 'fine' is having Slughorn taunt you and then give you detention for his mistakes, then yes, I'll be better than fine."

The two friends went their separate ways, Tonks to join Lily and Remus in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Wren to Advanced Potions, where she'd be ignored by students and ridiculed by the teacher.

-----

Severus was the first into Potions. He pulled out his book, flipped to the page, and sighed. Today's potion was a hard one; all about timing. The only good thing about it was that it would only take half the period to make…for him anyways. Severus knew quite a few shortcuts and detours for many different potions, and he intended to use them. Grinning to himself, he hurried to the student store supply cabinet, and pulled out the ingredients he needed. Glancing around, he grabbed some ginger roots and eggshells, and realized there was only enough of the ingredients for half the class. _Which means he wants us working with partners. FINALLY._ Sighing, he took the rest of the things he needed, and made his way back to his seat at the back of the class.

He watched as more students showed up and grabbed the rest of the ingredients. The slackers came next, and found partners who already had made a trip to the student cabinet. Severus kept his hidden in the shadow of his cauldron, and glared at those who thought he had some. Eventually they all paired up, leaving Severus alone.

Slughorn came in, followed by Wren right before the bell rang. Severus had an odd feeling that they both waited as long as possible before entering class. As Wren made her way forwards to her seat a few rows ahead of Severus, he reached out and caught the hem of her robes.

Wren turned to look at him, shock and surprise evident on her face. He nodded to the chair next to him, "There aren't any more of the ingredients we need…I doubt Slughorn will go find more for you, so unless you want to fail this potion as well, sit with me."

-----

_He's talking to me again!_ Wren could almost scream for joy. Instead, she hastily sat down in the chair next to Severus and his cauldron. Both were silent for a moment as Severus scanned his potions book and as Wren looked around for hers. "Damn…" She muttered after a moment.

Severus looked up, flicking a strand of his hair out of his face as he did. "What?" He asked. He separated the ingredients out, giving half of them to Wren and keeping half for himself. "We'll take turns adding stuff, okay?"

Wren nodded distractedly, "Yeah…where _is _it?" She was still rummaging around in her bag and she finally looked up. "I must've left my book in the common room. It's not here at any rate." Severus nodded, and pointed towards a cupboard with his wand.

The doors creaked open. He flicked his wand again, and muttered "_Accio._" One of the books wobbled, and soared over to Wren. It slammed into her stomach as she reached out for it, and Severus winced with her. "Sorry…"

Wren nodded and opened up her book, "It's fine, Severus. Thanks."

-----

He blinked. _Severus? Oh…me._ He felt really stupid that he didn't remember his own name, but Wren had been the only one to call him by it in years. "For what? I just hit you with a book and ignored you the last month and a half."

Wren was flicking through the pages of her borrowed book worriedly, and upon finding the strong healing balm they were making, groaned. "Great…" Then his words processed through her mind. "Oh, well, thanks for finally acknowledging I exist, I suppose. And for letting me work with you." Severus' face grew red. He felt worse with every passing second. Wren seemed to have already forgiven him for what he'd said to her, and for how he'd acted. _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…_ Wren continued, now pounding the eggshells into a powder with her mortar and pestle, "And the note you sent me, for that sleeping draft we made a few weeks ago. 'The Draft of the Living Dead', I think it was called."

Severus nodded, carefully splicing open the frog legs he had in front of him, "No problem. How'd you do on that?" He asked, pausing in his cutting to lean on his hand and look at Wren.

"Full marks." Wren replied, dumping her eggshell powder into the cauldron. Severus began stirring it in an odd figure eight pattern, and added his frog legs on the seventh stir.

He nodded, "At least he didn't accuse you of cheating or something." Wren smiled, and Severus returned it with a small smile of his own. His coal black eyes met Wren's bright blue ones for a moment, and they both hurriedly busied themselves with the potion they were making.

Severus decided it was now or never as he saw Slughorn make his way towards them. Once he came over, he wouldn't leave until the end of class. He swallowed hard and looked back at Wren. "Wren?"

Wren stopped dicing the ginger roots and looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"Can you meet me later? After dinner? There's something…" He glanced over towards Slughorn, who was almost on them. "Something you need to know."

Wren nodded confused, "Sure, but why can't you…oh." Slughorn came up to their table, and Wren fell silent.

As Severus had predicted, Slughorn remained annoyingly close to them the rest of the period. Wren almost ruined their potion twice, both very near misses as Severus only noticed she was doing something wrong right before she dumped the ingredients in the cauldron.

"ACK…I'm sorry, Severus." Wren said as he leaped forwards over the table to prevent her from adding the lacewing flies. She frowned as she glanced at the book, "But it says to add the lacewing flies…"

Severus sat down again, panting, and rested his head on the table, "Read on…" He poked the book towards her.

"Oh!" Wren went red, "Add the lacewing flies _after_ stirring it for five minutes and adding in the monkshood." She sighed, "Right…stirring." She began carefully stirring their potion with the ladle, glancing at the clock occasionally. Severus kept his head on the table, and closed his eyes. With Slughorn constantly watching them, and Wren having near misses with the potion, he was already exhausted…and they had twenty minutes in Potions still. Without meaning to, he felt the comfort of sleep washing over him. _No…I need to stay awake…_

-----

Wren sighed as Severus' breathing slowed down and his tensed muscles relaxed into sleep. _I can finish it…I just have to pay attention._ Determined, Wren left Severus to sleeping, and bent over the book, still stirring carefully, and reading over what she had to do to finish the potion. Carefully, she added the monkshood like the book said at the end of the five minutes. Then, stirring counter-clockwise, she added the lacewing flies, which were the last ingredient, and stirred slowly for eight more minutes.

Her concentration and carefulness paid off, when the potion bubbled a few times, and then turned into a pale green, sweet-smelling broth. Grinning, she filled Severus' and her flasks with the substance, and took it up to Slughorn's desk.

She got back, and packed up her things, as well as Severus' for him. Wren waited until there was about a minute until the bell rang. Looking around, she saw most students were still stirring, waiting for their potions to change color. Finally, she ran a hand through Severus' hair and called his name. When he didn't respond, Wren shook him gently on the shoulder. "Oi! Severus!"

He yelped and sat up quickly, looking around with wide eyes until he saw Wren smiling at him. "Good morning." She said, and Severus blinked.

"I haven't been asleep that long…have I?" Severus glanced around uncertainly. He noticed his cauldron was empty. "What happened?" He asked, nodding towards the empty bowl.

"I finished it…I think I did it right." Wren grinned proudly, and Severus smiled tiredly.

"Good job." The bell rang, and Wren handed Severus his bag, and they left, climbing the stairs together.

Wren kept an eye on him as they headed for dinner. _He's tired…_ She hadn't been paying attention before, but there were dark circles underneath his eyes, and he stumbled every once in a while.

As they reached the entrance hall that was beginning to swarm with people, Wren had to grab a handful of his robes and yank him towards her to keep Severus from being barreled over by some seventh years. The result was predictable. Wren and Severus overbalanced, and Wren landed hard on the floor, with Severus on top of her. He blinked, realized what had happened, and rolled off of Wren to aim a jinx at the seventh years. A hand pushed his down, and he looked over in surprise at Wren. She stood up slowly, rubbing her arm, and offered Severus a hand up.

"It's fine." She said simply, glaring at the seventh years as they disappeared into the great hall. "Let's just go get some food, eh?"

Severus nodded, "Yes. Food." Wren glanced at him worriedly again, before sitting down in her usual spot at the Ravenclaw table. _He's really tired…_ Wren thought with a small smile as she watched Severus sit down and poke his empty plate with his fork.

* * *

Onward, brave hearts! The next chapter'll probably be really long, kinda confusing, and hurtfully comforting. With some fluff. On an even more depressing note, I shall be away at Yellowstone for a week with my cousins, so I highly doubt I'll have internet access. Peace out, mi amigos! And while I'm away, you can reply and yell at me! 


	16. Chapter 16: Secret Weeper

Woo! Temporary internet access, and I'm using it! Yaay! So...this is...angsty...and...I'll rant on about it at ze bottom of the page because then you'll have hopefully read it and I won't give anything away...O.o

_"I found a place so safe not a single tear,_

_The first time in my life and now it's so clear._

_Feel calm I belong I'm so happy here,_

_It's so strong and now I let myself be sincere._

_I wouldn't change a thing about it...this is the best feeling._

_This innocence is brilliant, I hope that it will stay,_

_This moment is perfect, please don't go away._

_Cuz I need you now and I'll hold on to it don't you let it pass you by."_

_Avril Lavigne, -Innocence_

P.S. LOOK! I FOUND LYRICS!! WOOOOOOOOOOO! ...Okay...sorry...got kinda carried away...ahem...ONWARDS!

* * *

Severus waited for Wren in the entrance hall after the feast. It seemed like an eternity to him, and he spent the next few moments preparing himself. He just hoped he knew what he was doing. 

Severus hadn't slept well for the last week or so…he'd been staying up late worrying, studying, or just not being able to sleep, and when he did sleep, his dreams were haunted by his memories. It didn't help that he'd been taking potions to help him stay awake in his terribly dull classes and even more to be able to concentrate.

He was just beginning to doubt that Wren was even going to show up, when she did. "Hey, Severus." She greeted him, smiling. He smiled back, but he personally thought it resembled more of a grimace. After a moment, she spoke again, "I'm assuming we're going somewhere else before you tell me whatever it is you were going to tell me, since it's so noisy in here."

Severus nodded, and started off into the crowd, with Wren following. He slipped quietly out of the front doors, and held it open for Wren, who snuck through as well. No one noticed them leave, and together, they crossed the quiet lawns and went a short distance into the trees. Severus sat down beside a big tree and leant against it. Wren sat down next to him.

_Oh, what the HELL am I doing?_ Severus yelled at himself. _This is bad, bad, bad…really BAD._

Wren watched Severus silently, pulling off her bag and setting it next to her as she waited for him to talk. Finally, after a long time, Severus began to speak. "I wanted to tell you why I…why I freaked out when y-you kissed m-me." He faltered, and paused again. "It wasn't you…it was me." He shook his head sadly, "Me." He repeated, staring at the forest floor.

"It made me remember things…things I never wanted to think about again, that I tried to block out." He shook his head again, "I don't know where to start." Wren took his hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze. He looked up at her, wishing she just knew Legilimency like he did, so she could read his mind and be done with it. That wasn't going to happen though.

"When you kissed me, it was…I felt…it reminded me of Lily." Wren raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He gulped nervously and continued on, wringing the edge of his cloak in his hands. "That's what sort of triggered my memories, I guess. Potter and his friends decided in their fourth year to play a really stupid joke on me, and coaxed Lily into helping them. I liked Lily a lot. She'd been my friend since before we came to Hogwarts. They found out I had a crush on her, and thought it would be funny to 'help' me 'win her heart'."

He glared at his hands, still twisting his cloak this way and that. "Me and Lily started to go out together, because of their 'help'. They convinced her to go out with me. After a few weeks of dating, she took me to the library and we stayed in there for a long time kissing. It was the best few hours of my life." He smiled for a brief moment, but then it faded. "Of course the day had to be saved, and James came in right on cue and accused me of harassing her. He and his mates just used it as another excuse to torment me, and of course, I got in trouble. Even the headmaster couldn't take a Slytherin student's word when four Gryffindors say he's lying."

"And I met Lily the day my father first came home in a drunken rage. He beat my mum, and then turned on me, and I ran away because I was scared. I was hiding in a bush at the park when Lily and her sister came to play on the swings; that's when we met. I think we were 7 or 8. My father came home drunk every night after that, taking out his feelings on me and mum." Wren didn't know what to say; her mouth was slightly open, and she looked upset. "Dad is a Muggle, and mum was a witch."

"Mum got sick and died the year before I came to Hogwarts. Dad blamed me for it, and got even more angry…I didn't know what else to do, so I turned to the Dark Arts. It made me feel stronger, more powerful, and I felt in control for once." Severus' eyes began to tear up, "I was wrong. I was so wrong." Once again, he pulled his knees up to him and wrapped his arms around his legs.

"The other first years at school learned I was into the Black Arts, and kept their distance. Lily remained my only friend until our fifth year, even after that fiasco in the library. Early on in the year the Marauders decided to humiliate me publicly." Severus' tears began to spill over and run down his cheeks. "They levitated me up and pulled down my pants in front of everyone."

Wren frowned, "That's disgusting." Severus looked over at her and only then noticed that her arm was around his shoulders. He shrugged it off, and hoped it wouldn't hurt Wren's feelings. She pulled it back and instead scooted a bit closer to him so that their sides were just touching.

"Lily came to tell them off of course, but I was still sorta mad about the trick they'd played on me last year with her, and I yelled at her. I called her a 'filthy little mudblood' and told her I didn't need her help. It just came out…I didn't mean it. She never really talked to me after that, even though I tried to apologize. I guess I deserved it though." Wren could feel Severus shivering now, and not with cold. "I ran off the moment they stopped, and as I passed them towards the school, I punched Peter in the face." He stared ahead at a bush, but didn't really see it. "There used to be four Marauders you know. James is Prongs, Sirius is Padfoot, Remus is Moony, and Peter was Wormtail."

Wren raised an eyebrow, and asked, "How come I've never heard of Peter before? And why are you talking about him like he's dead?"

Severus' unhappy gaze slowly turned to Wren. "Because he _is_ dead. I killed him." He whispered; his shivering had progressed into shuddering. "Like I said, I punched him in the face and gave him a bloody nose. I don't know what the hell he was thinking, but he decided to get revenge. A few weeks later, he cornered me in an empty classroom. He talked to me normally for a while, and then I suppose he thought I'd just let him beat on me or something, which I wasn't. Peter was tiny…shorter than James is, and he'd always just follow them around. It annoyed me. But anyways, he suddenly pulled out his wand and shot a spell at me. We dueled for a while, and then completely forgot about our wands and it turned into a fist fight. At one point, I shoved him really hard, and he toppled backwards and smashed through a window. I tried to help him." Severus grabbed Wren's arm and stared at her, his eyes filled with grief and his voice with remorse, as if he couldn't see her and saw someone else.

"I really did try. I didn't mean to push him out of the window. But he fell, and…he…" Severus closed his eyes tightly. Wren could feel his shivering growing steadily worse. "I couldn't get to him in time. He broke his neck when he landed. Everyone saw me standing in the window, and freaked out. Only the headmaster and a few others don't really blame me, but everyone else does. I hear them talking about me in the halls. They don't even bother to keep their voices down when I walk by."

Severus opened his eyes and looked at Wren hopelessly. "The worst part was when I had to meet Peter's parents after I…after it happened. They didn't blame me. They actually thanked me for trying to grab--" Severus' voice finally broke, and he choked up.

He buried his face in his arms and completely broke down into shuddering sobs. Severus felt all the anger, fear, resentment, guilt, and shame melt into his tears, and he tried to pull his breathing back into control as he wiped at his tears.

Wren watched Severus fight with his emotions as he cried and stopped, and then started crying again. Finally, she reached out and touched his shoulder. Severus flinched away from the contact, but Wren wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. Severus' body completely tensed up. He turned to stare at her with his tear streaked face, and Wren gave him a small smile.

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she gently pulled him over into her lap, putting one arm around his back, and reaching up to stroke his hair with the other. "Let it out, Severus…you can't keep it locked away forever. Just let it all out." Severus remained stiff while she spoke, but after a moment, he slowly began to relax. His shoulders sagged, his head dropped onto Wren's shoulder, and his trembling hands latched onto the front of her robes as he softly began to cry again.

Soft crying became racking sobs, and all the while Wren gently rocked him back and forth in her arms, whispering softly to him. Eventually, Severus' crying quieted and his clenched hands slackened their grip. Wren looked down at the distraught boy in her arms for a long moment. Almost mechanically, she brushed a stray piece of hair from his face and dried his cheeks with her sleeve before leaning down and kissing his forehead softly.

Severus looked up at Wren and whispered, "Do you blame me, Wren?"

She shook her head, "Of course I don't. It wasn't anyone's fault." She smiled down at him, and he managed to return it. Before Severus knew what was happening, his eyelids fluttered shut, and he fell fast asleep, curled in Wren's arms, leaving her to her thoughts.

* * *

Mmmmm...Fluffy stuff. 

WOO! Okay, the few people who've actually read this might actually be a bit confuzed. So I shall explain it...hopefully.

I hate Voldermort. Doesn't everyone? So...he does not exist!!! MUAHAHAAAA! But Lucius and the others'll probably show up sooner or later and try to get Sev to join an evil little something in the Death Eater's place...

I hate the traitor, Peter Pettigrew. Hence, Sev accidentally killed him. Cuz I can't and he should be the one to kill him off, intentionally or not. MUAHAHAAAA! But on the sad end, Sev didn't want to kill him...and now he's got a guilty conscience and he blames himself when it was just a stupid accident. Poor poor Sevvy. Let us all join in on a group hug for our favourite Potions Master! Hip hip...HUG! Hip hip...HUG!

...Review please! I'd like to know how I'm doing, and I still sorta need a last name for Wren, since I suck with names...

Next chapter includes: No tormenting of our Severus, Legilimency, a fight between Wren and Slughorn, "The Potion Failure's Queen", and some mild flirty stuffness...I don't know what to call it, but I personally think it's cute!


	17. Chapter 17: Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep

Right...so...yeah. Not much to say. Wrote this one when I was rather tired, cooped up in a car for seven hours, and with no changing scenery to distract me...

* * *

Sound came first to Severus, so he listened, trying to figure out where he was. Someone was talking nearby him, and focusing in on the voice he recognized Slughorn's drawling.

"--absolutely maddening….Stealing from my personal store without my knowing…it's just preposterous. And to think that he was using the ingredients to make wakefulness drafts makes it even worse."

"We will find out the facts when Mr. Snape wakes up." The newest voice was instantly matched to Dumbledore. Severus suddenly heard a female voice growing louder as the woman approached, and Severus was able to finally figure out where he was. The hospital wing.

"Wakes up? What if he doesn't wake up!? Severus should know better than anyone that waking potions are dangerous and shouldn't be used in quantities like this! Six cauldrons full. _SIX! _I've just been told by Moaning Myrtle that he was brewing it all in her bathrooms. It makes sense of course…not many people go in there." Madame Pomfrey squeaked.

"Calm down, my dear. We will find out eventually why Severus did something so stupid. Now, are you sure you don't know why he was drinking those potions?" Slughorn said, and Severus wondered who he was talking to.

"No, sir. I've told you before. I found him slumped in a hallway unconscious, and when I levitated him to bring him here, a bottle fell out of his pocket." Severus' eyes opened a fraction to see Wren standing with her back to him, talking to the two professors. Madame Pomfrey had disappeared into her office.

Dumbledore shifted his gaze from Wren to Slughorn, and smiled politely. "Well, that's that, Professor Slughorn. I shall have Madame Pomfrey alert you immediately when Severus awakes as I'm sure you are concerned about him, but until then, I think perhaps you and Wren should go off to your classes." There seemed to be no way for Slughorn to refuse as he was escorted from the room by Dumbledore.

Severus could only see Wren now, and as she turned back around to pick up her bag, he hastily shut his eyes and concentrated on listening.

"Now, Wren, I was wondering if I could have a word with you?" He heard Dumbledore ask.

"What about?" Came Wren's reply.

"About our young friend, Mr. Snape. I don't think you were telling the whole truth earlier." Dumbledore said, and Severus could almost hear the smile he knew that was accompanying the words. When there was only silence on Wren's part, Dumbledore continued. "Wren, as headmaster of this school, I need to know why Severus was endangering himself by taking so many potions. As Madame Pomfrey said, he of all people should know better. Please tell me the truth."

There was more silence. Severus wasn't sure if he wanted Dumbledore to know or not. Dumbledore had a right to know of course, but on the other hand, he didn't.

"I'm sorry Professor." Wren said quietly, "But I can't."

"Ah…I see. Well then, my dear, could I ask you one more question? Do you know where I might find a nice pair of large and fluffy socks?"

"Eh?" Wren's startled response died away almost instantly, and silence resumed. Severus' eyes flew open, and he saw Wren and Dumbledore staring at each other with an unblinking gaze. He knew that look. Legilimency. _Smart man, Dumbledore. He'll be able to find out what he needs to help or satisfy him or whatever the reason he wants to know, and Wren won't even know he's inside her mind._ Severus smiled, and closed his eyes, content to listen once more.

Eventually, Dumbledore spoke. "Hmm…well, thank you, my dear. You should be off to class now. Have a good time."

"Wait…thank you for what?" Wren asked, but Severus could only hear footsteps as Wren was swept from the hospital wing by Dumbledore. Yawning widely, Severus turned over in his bed, and fell back asleep.

-----

"He'll be _fine_, Wren. Stop worrying." Tonks said, patting Wren on the shoulder.

"I'm not worrying." Wren lied, flicking her wand at the toad in front of her half-heartedly. They were supposed to be turning the toads into crystal bottles, but no one was anywhere near being finished, except James who had made three bottles now.

Tonks raised an eyebrow and pointed at Wren's toad, "You sure you aren't worrying?" Instead of turning a clear color and elongating into a flask shape, Wren's toad had turned bright purple and was swelling up.

Wren looked down at her toad and then grinned at Tonks, "Alright, I suppose I am worried. But what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, but I'm curious why you're worried in the first place. Whatever happened to that git to keep him in the hospital wing for so long was probably well earned and deserved." James butted in as Tonks opened her mouth to reply. He came over to Wren and Tonks and sat down backwards in the chair opposite them.

Wren and Tonks glanced at each other and scowled at James. "Well? Why are you?" James asked again, poking Wren in the arm. She didn't say anything, but went slightly red and tried to concentrate on transfiguring her toad. James grinned, "Uh oh. Looks like someone's got a crush on old Snivellus. Wait till Padfoot and Moony hear of this."

Wren went redder, and then slowly raised her gaze to meet James'. "Yeah, well, maybe I do like him." James bit his lip to try and stop from laughing, but it was a fruitless attempt. Wren went even redder, but was saved as the bell rang and everyone rushed to gather their books and leave the room.

Dinner was great, as usual, but Wren picked at her food. She couldn't help but think about Severus. _I hope he wakes up soon. It's been days…_

Standing, she headed back to her common room, and curled up in a chair to study. The shadows grew longer, as Wren struggled to concentrate on her work. Finally, she went up the staircase to bed.

The next morning, Wren stopped by the hospital wing on her way down to breakfast and another day of classes. Madame Pomfrey glanced up as she entered, and sighed, "You again…" But she smiled at Wren, who returned it.

She approached Severus' bed quietly, even though she was fairly sure he wouldn't wake up. Standing there for a long moment, she absentmindedly took his hand in hers, tracing the lines of his palm with one finger as she gazed out the window. After another moment of watching Severus' face relaxed in sleep, she left the hospital wing again, thinking she'd be able to do better in her classes today.

-----

Severus woke with a start as he felt someone mopping his brow with a cool cloth. Looking up, he saw Madame Pomfrey standing beside him, the guilty cloth in her hand. She smiled, "_Finally_! Well, how do you feel, Severus?"

Severus was silent for a moment as he thought about her question. After his emotional breakdown and his talk with Wren, he felt much better. Great even.

"Fine." He croaked. Rubbing his throat, he tried again, "Fine." It still sounded dreadfully cracked and foreign to him.

Madame Pomfrey handed him a flask with a pale blue liquid, "Drink that, it'll help." As she carefully watched Severus sit up and drink it, she continued, "You've been asleep in here for four days, you know. And that Wren; she's been in here every day to check up on you." She smiled and took back the empty bottle from Severus.

"I've been here four days?" Severus asked incredulously; his throat felt much better now.

"That's right. Now," Madame Pomfrey waved her wand and a tray of food appeared on Severus' lap, "Eat, and I'll be back in a few minutes with the headmaster. He wanted me to tell him when you finally woke up."

Severus watched Madame Pomfrey walk away, and he was about to tell her he didn't feel hungry, when the food's scent wafted to him. Hunger smashed into his senses, and he began eating with a passion. In minutes, the tray was clear, the jug of pumpkin juice was drained, and with nothing else to do, Severus got out of bed and stretched luxuriously. After another few minutes of waiting for Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore's return, he changed out of the pajamas he had on and into some of his school robes.

He was just putting on his boots when Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey returned. He sat up straight and watched Dumbledore sit down in a chair. Pomfrey left the wing and returned once again to her office.

Dumbledore laced his fingers together and smiled at Severus, "Good morning, Mr. Snape. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, professor." Severus muttered, averting his eyes from the headmaster's and staring at the floor.

"Good, good, well then, I suppose you can return to your classes today, yes?" When Severus glanced up and nodded, he continued, "Before you go though, Severus, I need to know something. Why were you taking so many wakefulness potions?"

"I was…having trouble sleeping." Severus said quietly, meeting the professor's gaze unblinkingly for once. "I didn't want my grades to slip because of it."

Dumbledore surveyed Severus for a moment, and then sighed, "What was keeping you from sleeping then?" He asked.

Severus gulped and his pale face went red as he muttered something. "What was that?" Dumbledore asked, bobbing his head pleasantly.

Severus glared at him, "You already know, professor. I don't see why I need to repeat it."

Dumbledore nodded again, not bothering to ask how Severus knew he knew. "Yes. That Wren is a sweet girl, isn't she? A good friend." Severus flushed redder, and picked at the bed sheet. Dumbledore stood and sat down next to Severus on the bed. "You do know, that what you did was very dangerous. To take that amount of potions…well…it wasn't very smart, Severus."

Severus nodded, "I know. I'm sorry."

Dumbledore smiled, "Just don't do something like that again. I understand how you must feel, but next time there will be consequences. As a matter of fact, there're some consequences this time. You stole ingredients from Professor Slughorn to make your potions, correct?" Severus winced and nodded. "Then I suppose he will want you to have some sort of detention to make up for your actions."

"Professor, can't you assign my detention? Slughorn'll have me scrubbing cauldrons for weeks."

Dumbledore laughed, and clasped Severus' shoulder as he stood. "I'm afraid not, Severus. Now, are you sure you feel good enough to go to classes? Yes? Right then. You can go on your wa--"

"He certainly will _not_ be on his way, Albus. You're no doctor, and Severus has been through a lot, according to the small bit of information Wren and you gave me. This boy didn't sleep for weeks, and he may have slept for four days straight and he may say he's fine, but he's my patient, and he won't be leaving until I'm certain he'll be okay." Madame Pomfrey stormed into the hospital wing and pushed Severus back down onto the bed, who had just recently risen off of it.

"I'm fine, really…" Severus began, but he had a scalding hot potion poured down his throat as Madame Pomfrey ranted on about his condition and Dumbledore, who waved cheerfully to the coughing Severus.

"So, in this case, you are free to go when Madame Pomfrey gives the word." He left the hospital wing and shut the door behind him.

Severus was forced to stay and continue resting in the hospital wing for most of the morning. After lunch, it took Madame Pomfrey another hour or so to finally allow him to leave. "And Severus, the next time you can't sleep, come to me for a sleeping draft, instead of making tons of wakefulness ones." She called, as he left the hospital wing and made his way down the stairs.

Checking the time, he half grinned and half grimaced as he realized that he had Advanced Potions. He'd be twenty minutes late, but meh. Whatever. He turned down into the entrance hall and swept through the door leading to the dungeons.

-----

Wren glared determinedly at the floor as Slughorn yet again began using her potion as an example of what not to do. _Enough is enough…_ She thought, as he bent down to "tsk" at her potion. "Go bother someone else for a change, Slughorn." She gave him a look that said 'Drop Dead'.

Slughorn blinked and stared at her for a moment, "_Professor_ Slughorn, Wren. Where are your manners?"

Wren stood up fast, her anger mounting quickly, "Where are your teaching skills? Aren't _professors_ supposed to teach and help students instead of laughing at them?"

At that moment, Severus entered the classroom, and seeing that there was an argument going on, decided on closing the door quietly and slipped into his seat unnoticed. In his pocket, he gripped his wand tightly, ready to interfere if things between student and teacher got out of hand.

The Potions professor's smile faded, and he turned slightly pink. "I'll have no back-talking in my class, missy, and I am not 'laughing' at you, I am letting you know that you need serious help with your potions."

"I suppose it never occurred to you to offer to tutor me or something then." Wren challenged, ignoring Slughorn's comment on back-talking.

"And why," Slughorn growled, taking a step closer to Wren with every word. "Would I help you with your potions when you're completely hopeless at it?"

Wren stood her ground and continued to glare daggers at Slughorn, who was now right in her face. "Well that's easy. Maybe because you're the potions professor?" She suggested, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "If you could call writing page numbers up on the board teaching."

"50 POINTS FROM RAVENCLAW!" Slughorn screeched angrily, backing off a bit from Wren. Then, visibly calming down, he continued, "And you can start your potion over. I want it in by the end of class, and if it's not complete, then it's a zero." He whisked his wand over Wren's cauldron and cleared it of the partially completed potion. As he walked away from Wren, he said, "And you'll be having detention for two weeks sorting out and preparing ingredients for me. See me after class."

Wren was so furious she didn't see Severus going up to the front and talking to Slughorn about his own detention, as she sat back down in her seat and began starting the potion all over again. It was only when she was about to add the second ingredient (ginger roots), when Severus made his presence known.

A hand suddenly appeared and guided her own hand away from the cauldron, where it was about to drop the roots into the broth. Another hand, the partner of the first, took her other hand, picked up the knife, and began crushing the roots with the flat of the blade. Wren's head shot upwards, and she saw Severus smiling down at her.

"The ginger roots will let out more of their juice if you crush them first." He said, guiding her hands to pick up the roots and then to toss them into her cauldron, before releasing them and sitting down beside her.

Wren gaped at him for a moment, and then gave him the biggest and tightest hug Severus had ever received. He returned it, but after a moment, he said, "Um…Wren…Breathing is becoming a bit of an issue." Wren laughed, and let go, but held onto his wrist.

"You're finally awake! I was beginning to think you'd never wake up!" She smiled happily, and then smacked him on the cheek.

Severus was caught unaware and yelped, raising a hand to gently touch his cheek. "OW! What was that for? I thought you were happy to see me."

"For being so stupid. Even I, the potions failure, know that it's almost suicidal to take so many potions like that." Wren glared at him, but the corner of her mouth twitched in mild amusement.

Severus made an abandoned puppy face and said, "I guess I deserve to be abused then." He turned his head so the other half of his face was showing, and looked at her with big soulful eyes. "Strike again, Wren the Potions Failure."

Wren smirked and instead of 'striking again', hugged him again. "I'm just glad you're okay." She smiled at him, and Severus returned both the hug and the smile.

"As touching as this moment is, I must warn 'Wren the Potions Failure Queen', that if she doesn't start stirring her mixture of glop, the glop will explode over the entire class." Severus said, watching her potion warily. Wren laughed again, and released Severus, to turn and stir her potion.

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Yaay! I'll try to type more, but my laptop life is only for two hours, so...we'll see. Until then! Hope you liked it. 


	18. Chapter 18: Of Detentions and Dates

OMG! It worked! I've been having...issues...with and Larry (my computer). They wouldn't get along together. But now they do, so YAAY!

Right...I said I wasn't going to do anymore disclaimers, remember? But I need to for this one, because Joss Whedon and Roland Emmerich come up with the best dialogue. I borrowed some of it for the part at the end of the chapter. Just to be safe, some of the dialogue is from Joss Whedon's 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Episode: Surprise', and I also used some dialogue from Roland Emmerich's 'The Day After Tomorrow'. Kudos to you if you know what I'm talking about and find the slight twakage of mine from it, and if you don't, just ignore my ramblings and enjoy the story!!

**Disclaimer: **It's all explained above...

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Wren and Severus finished the potion together, smiling and talking all the way through class. As they were ascending from the dungeons for dinner, Severus glanced over at Wren. "Hey, you never finished telling me about your hippogriffs, remember? What were their names again…?" He paused a moment, and then continued, "Weren't they Tipp and Stoney?"

Wren smiled, "Yep. Tipp's full name is Feathertip, and Stoney is Stoneears, because when he was first born, he wouldn't listen to a thing." She smiled, "He only listened to me, and only for a small majority of the time at that. But he listens more now, and he still is closest to me. Tipp is always being grumpy…" Wren grinned, "And she's pregnant, so now she's even moodier than before. Mum and dad got home a few weeks ago and think she's carrying twins."

Severus smiled, "When's she due to have her babies?"

Wren paused mid-stride and leant back against the wall beside her to count. "Well, they said she was pretty far on, I think about 8 months, so she got pregnant in May…which means…she's due around Christmas." Wren double-checked, counting on her fingers, muttering. "Nine months…May….June…July…………Yup. December."

The dark haired boy watched Wren counting and muttering silently, smiling brightly. _She's really cute when she does that…_ He thought, recalling when she did a similar thing back in the middle of Potions class just a while ago.

He blinked; Wren had fallen silent and was staring straight back at him. "What?" He asked, perplexed.

Wren shook her head and smiled, starting to walk down the hallway. "I was about to ask you the same thing." She grinned at him, and he went slightly pink. "You were smiling again."

Severus sighed, "I'm not allowed to smile now? I thought you liked it when I smiled."

Wren turned around to walk backwards down the hall so she could look at him fully. "I do." She said simply, cocking her head and smiling devilishly at him. Severus went pinker, and his smile widened.

Suddenly, Severus had an idea. A rather scary one (in his opinion), and one that would take a bit of courage, but it wasn't only the Gryffindors who had that characteristic. He took a deep, shaky breath, and looked at Wren. "Um…Wren? Have you been to Hogsmeade yet?" He asked.

Wren shook her head, "No, I haven't. Why?" Just then, Wren, who was still walking backwards, walked into somebody, who hugged her from behind. Wren grinned, and twisted her head around to see her friend. "Hi Tonks!" She said brightly.

Severus nodded to Tonks, and then his face fell as he saw his least favorite people standing right behind her. Remus was closest to Tonks, and he stared at Severus for a long moment before returning his attention to Tonks and Wren, wrapping an arm around the Tonks' waist. James was standing a short ways off with Lily. _Where's Sirius?_ He wondered, right before an arm snaked its way around his shoulders in what would normally be a friendly gesture.

"Why hello Severus! Not giving Wren any trouble, I hope?" Sirius asked, smiling oddly at the dark boy he had his arm around.

"No…I wasn't." Severus replied stiffly.

"Then what were you doing hanging around with her?" Sirius wanted to know, his smile disappearing.

"We were talking." Severus tried to edge away from Sirius, but the boy's arm was still around his shoulder.

"What about?"

Severus glowered at him, "It's none of your business, Black." He spat, wrenching free. Sirius snarled angrily and shoved Severus hard, and Severus toppled over, landing hard on the floor.

"Hey! Sirius! Severus!" The others had noticed the fight that was about to ensue, and Wren came over and helped Severus up.

"Come on you two, don't fight." She said, looking from one to the other. "Let's just go have dinner." Grudgingly, the two boys slowly turned away from each other, one going back to his friends, and the other to pick up his bag. Wren stood beside Severus, "Why did you want to know if I'd been to Hogsmeade?" She asked as he straightened up, bag in hand.

He stared at her, and then glanced at the others, "Forget it." He muttered. "It was…I…just…forget it."

Wren smiled, and nodded, "Alright."

The small group of students went off to dinner, Severus and Sirius as far away as possible from each other.

After dinner, Wren said goodnight to the others, and then headed downstairs for her detention. Severus was already there, scrubbing out cauldrons when she arrived. His hands were covered in soap and grime and he kept flicking his head angrily to try and get a piece of hair out of his face.

Smiling, Wren brushed it back behind his ear for him. He looked up, startled, and then smiled, "Thanks." Just then, Slughorn came out of the potion storage room and forced a smile onto his face.

"Ah, Miss Taylor, these are for you to sort out and label…you can go when you've finished. And you, Severus, can go when you've scrubbed out those three cauldrons." Both students groaned. Slughorn was holding a very large box piled high with ingredients, smaller empty bags, books, and more of a motley bunch all heaped together. There were five equally haphazard and full boxes on two desks next to where Severus stood scrubbing. The cauldrons he had to clean out were huge and disgustingly dirty, and stood on the other side of him.

Wren took the sixth box from Slughorn, and the professor disappeared into his office. Poking his head out, he said, "I don't care if you two talk, but you can't leave until you're finished, and I want to see your work before you go. Understood?" With that, he shut his office door, leaving Wren and Severus alone in the classroom.

Severus muttered something and started scrubbing again. "He _always_ makes me clean out cauldrons…at least it won't take long. I've gotten rather good at it." He smirked at Wren.

Wren actually grinned, "And this won't take long for me either. I'm always having to clean up after Top and Theo at home." She started pulling out the items, putting things in stacks. Soon all six boxes were empty of their contents, and Severus' first cauldron was clean and shiny.

Severus wiped his hands off on his pants, and came over to have a look at Wren's work. Everything was all bunched together in groups on one of the tables (which didn't look like it could hold much more), but the other table had a huge mound of different colored powder and bits of crushed ingredients.

"This is just perfect…" She said, "I can't separate this out by hand…It's impossible!" She looked up at Severus, "Any ideas, mate?"

"Use a spell." Severus advised.

"But Slughorn--"

"Is tucked away safely and out of sight in his office…probably asleep. He won't know." Severus interrupted, smiling.

Wren smirked, "You've got a point. Alright." She pulled out her wand from inside her robes, and pointed it at the heap of mixed up powder. "_Separato_." She said, twitching her wand.

The powder separated smoothly into about two dozen smaller heaps. Wren clapped her hands together happily and scooped the piles into small bags.

Severus returned to scrubbing, and Wren started restacking everything into the boxes, labeling as she went. Three boxes were filled, and another cauldron was clean, before Wren and Severus struck up another conversation. They talked and talked, about all manners of things; school, home, friends, family, and favorite things, along with many more subjects.

Severus had just finished telling Wren about Honeydukes when Wren smacked her head with a book she was packing away. "I forgot to ask you, Severus. Did you go to any of our professors to get the work you missed?" She looked at him anxiously.

He blinked, "Er…no. I was going to do that tomorrow…"

"Don't bother. I was supposed to give you it all." Wren went over to her bag and rummaged around in it, pulling out scroll after scroll. Finally, she pulled out a few pieces of folded up paper and handed it to him. Taking them from her, Severus read them over.

Each sheaf of paper was from one of his teachers, telling him what he had to do to make up for the work he'd missed. It seemed that he had quite a few essays to do each in Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and Transfiguration, and also had to study for a test in Astronomy. Slughorn had chosen to give him extra detention instead of to make up the potions he'd missed, so that was Advanced Potions taken care of. The last sheaf of paper simply said, _Get well soon, _and it was from Professor Bradley, the Ancient Runes teacher.

Wren smiled guiltily at Severus, "I convinced her to not give you any work to make up."

He smiled, "Again, thanks. But even so, this is going to take me _days_ to finish, and Slughorn has me in detention for as long as he wants every night…" He trailed off, "Why are you happy about this?" He asked Wren, who was grinning guiltily. "…What did you do?"

Wren picked up the many rolls of parchment she'd piled on the desk and dumped them into Severus' arms. She scuffed the toe of her shoe on the floor and watched it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "You were sick in the Hospital Wing, and I thought the last thing you wanted to do when you woke up was to be greeted with a mountain of work…so I did it all for you. All you've got to do is spell the writing to look more like yours." She finally looked up at him and went red immediately when she saw the incredulous look on his face.

Severus set down the scrolls and pulled Wren into a hug, even though he didn't normally do hugs. Picking her up off of the ground a few inches, he spun her around in a circle a few times, laughing.

Wren pulled back from his hug to look at him. "I've never heard you laugh." She said, looking at him quizzically.

"That doesn't mean I can't." He laughed again, and Wren smiled. He had a quiet laugh, even though it had been rather loud. There was no real way to explain it, but that was how it sounded. Wren found that she liked it, just like his smile. Severus smiled down at Wren, "Thank you so much!"

"No problem." She replied, turning back to her task. "Now," She said, "All I've got to pack away is these powders…but I don't know what they are." She pointed to one. "I think that's root of asphodel, isn't it?"

Severus grinned, "You're not my Potions Failure Queen anymore. Yes, that's powdered root of asphodel. You're getting better, Wren."

Wren smiled, and not just because of his praise. He'd said 'my' … 'my potions failure queen'.

With Severus' help, Wren was able to label the rest of the powders, and packed them away in a box, along with other bigger bags of herbs, and jars of the slimier ingredients.

Both of them finished their punishments (if they could be called that) almost at the same time. They knocked on Slughorn's door, and when he opened it, bleary-eyed, he peered at them. "You're still here? Go on then…go to bed or whatever." He shut the door again without even glancing at their work. Wren glanced at Severus, who shrugged, and grabbed their bags, handing Wren hers.

Severus stopped part-ways up the stairs, beside a big picture with a big lord-looking sort of man in it. "This is my common room." He said, pointing at the portrait.

"Oh!" Wren said, smiling, "I was wondering why you'd stopped."

Severus smiled back, "So…I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked.

"Of course." Wren replied, "I'll see you at breakfast." She started to go up the stairs again, but felt a cold hand take hers, and she stopped to turn and look at Severus. He stared up at her anxiously and worriedly. "Wait." It was more of a question than an order, and Wren waited, stepping back down the few steps she'd gone up.

He watched her quietly for a moment, and then took a deep breath. "You know how I asked if you'd been to Hogsmeade yet?" It was a rhetorical question, but Wren nodded anyways. "And you know how I said never mind when you asked why?" Again with the rhetorical-ness. "Well, it's because I'm going to ask you to come with me to Hogsmeade. I'm just really nervous…"

He bit his lip, and Wren couldn't help but smile. "Well, if it helps any, I'm going to say yes."

Severus smiled, "It does help." He was silent for a moment, and then said, "So, will you come with me to Hogsmeade on Saturday?"

Wren grinned, "Consider it a date." Severus' spine tingled. A date. He, Snivellus, had a date.

"Well, I'll s-see you tomorrow." Severus stammered.

Wren smiled, "Yes." Neither of them moved for a moment. "Severus?"

"What?"

"…Can I have my hand back?"

"Huh? Oh. Right. Sorry."

"Thanks."

* * *

Yaay! So...one more chapter, and then the date!! WOO! Hope ya'll liked it, and I'd also like to thank those of you who've reviewed. XD So many of them had me laughing all day! Thanks so much! Luv ya all. 


	19. Chapter 19: The Nineteenth Chapter

Righto...I suppose I should warn you now, this chapter contains the following: Slytherin gits, Peeves and an evil plot, no more detentions (Yaay!!!), aaaaaaaaaaanddddddd...snogging in the library! WOO! Come on people, it IS a M rated romance...

**Dedication:** This one's for all my reviewers. I love you guys!

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The next day, Wren and Severus couldn't stop smiling at each other during classes, and Severus found himself acting unnaturally nice to Sirius, James and Remus when Wren was around.

In the middle of Care of Magical Creatures, Sirius slipped on a patch of icy ground, and was surprised to find that Severus caught him under his arm to steady him.

Later on when Severus mused over his actions, he found that he hadn't even thought twice about it. He also found he didn't mind that he'd been tripped later on by Sirius in the hallway.

A similar thing happened with James the next day. Remus accidentally ripped James' bag open with a misfired spell to hem up the seam, and all of James' things went on the floor. Again without thinking, Severus stopped to help them pick it all up.

At dinner that night, Severus' dorm-mates, Lucius and Yaxley, confronted him about his 'odd' behavior.

"Just tell us, Severus. I saw you keep Black upright when he slipped yesterday, and you didn't hex him later on when he tripped you. And then today Yaxley says he saw you helping Potter pick up his shit when his bag split. What's gotten into you?" Lucius asked, with a look on his face that could almost pass as concern for a friend.

"I dunno. I just…felt like it." Severus muttered, stabbing his pork with a spoon repeatedly.

Yaxley grinned, "You wanna be friends with those idiots or something?"

"No." Severus leaned on his elbow and surveyed the three boys at the Gryffindor table. He actually wouldn't mind being friends with them. They were nice to other people, and polite, and smart. Looking at the two boys next to him and comparing them to the Marauders, he knew which he'd rather have as friends, if he was given a choice.

Invariably, his gaze flickered over to Wren, who was eating at the Ravenclaw table directly across from him. She saw him looking her way and smiled. The corner of Severus' mouth twitched into the shadow of a smile, and he went slightly pink as he realized that Yaxley and Lucius hadn't missed it.

"Dear me…" Lucius drawled, leaning forward on the table to peer at Severus closely, "Was that a _smile_ that I saw?"

Severus glared at Lucius, "I don't know what you're talking about." He snapped. "What do you want anyways?"

"Nothing, buddy." Yaxley said airily, clasping Severus' shoulder. "We just want to know why you're being nice to three of the best bloody Gryffindors…"

"…and why you've got the hots for a Ravenclaw." Lucius finished, grinning now.

Severus swallowed hard and refused to look at Yaxley or Lucius, but he felt his face grow hot with anger.

Eventually, Lucius and Yaxley grew bored of taunting Severus while he ignored them, and started conspiring as to why he was acting how he was.

"Yeah, it's all a new plot so you can get closer to them and hex them even worse than you can from a distance, isn't it?" Yaxley was saying, referring to the two incidents in which Severus had helped out the Marauders.

"That's it. And that girl is just a fantasy, isn't it, Snape? A daydream." Lucius laughed cruelly. "She'd never fall for you, buddy. That's just how it is." He patted Severus in what he thought was a comforting way while Severus wondered if he was right. _Does she really like me? Or is she just using me for something?_ He knew he was being silly. Wren wouldn't do that…would she?

Severus continued to ignore the two boys, even though his face continued to grow very red in annoyance. He sighed in relief as Yaxley and Lucius finally left. They now firmly believed the excuses they had unconsciously made for his behavior, and Severus wasn't about to correct them. He'd rather they didn't know.

He met Wren in the entrance hall for their detention. Together they descended the stairs, and it was a moment before Severus, who was still brooding on what Yaxley and Lucius had been saying, realized that Wren was talking.

"Sorry…what was that?" He asked, blinking as Wren looked sideways at him.

"I was asking who those boys sitting with you were. Are they some friends of yours?" She asked, smiling. "You didn't look too happy most of the time."

"I don't know if you could call them 'friends'. They only pretend to know me and care when it suits their needs." Severus replied, feeling his spirits drop.

"Oh…I see." Wren was silent for a moment, and they reached the bottom of the stairs before she spoke again. "I'm sorry, Sev."

Severus almost smiled when Wren used the nickname that Lily had once used for him. Almost. "It's not your fault I've got lousy dorm-mates. But they said some stuff, and…I don't know. I just…it made me wonder." He hated himself for it, but he couldn't help it. What if they were right about Wren? What if she didn't really like him?

Severus waited for Wren to say something, anything, but she remained silent. They got to the Potions classroom, but neither of them reached for the door handle.

"So what did they say? I'm guessing it was something about me."

Severus nodded slowly, and muttered something quietly, staring at the floor. Wren raised an eyebrow. She reached up and raised his chin until he looked at her. "Come on then, tell me."

"They said…you didn't like me. That you were just using me." He looked away from her again and let a curtain of hair fall over his face.

Wren frowned, stepped closer to Severus, and pulled back his hair to look at him, "And your friends obviously don't know either of us very well if they say I don't like you. You're a great friend! As for using you, Sev, what would I be trying to get? Can you tell me that?"

There was that nickname again. And Wren had a point; as far as he could see the only thing she could get from him was a passing grade in Potions, but she'd already told him she could care less if she flunked spectacularly through that class. He smiled, "I can't. I guess I just overreacted…again."

"Better safe than sorry though." Wren smiled. "Speaking of safe and sorry, we need to start our detentions at some point." She opened the door, only to be blocked by Slughorn. He looked down at them, surprised.

"What're you two doing down here?" He asked, before answering his own question. "Oh, right. Detentions." He looked at both of them. "Listen, I was just leaving. I'm tired, and I'm going to bed." Wren and Severus glanced at each other, the same thought running through their heads, _He's _always_ tired…_ In fairness, Slughorn really did look it tonight.

Severus spoke up, "So…what about our detentions?"

"Oh, never mind them for tonight. I'll let you off." Slughorn said, yawning widely. Wren and Severus glanced at each other again, "Besides," He peered at them both. "I think you've learned your lessons. Right?" Severus nodded slowly, and after a moment, Wren did too. Slughorn clapped his hands together. "Then we'll call it good. No more detention."

Severus and Wren weren't about to complain as they were shooed from the dungeons. They had a few hours to kill for once, time in which they could do what they liked.

Wren paused in the entrance hall. "Where shall we go?" She asked Severus.

He shrugged, "I dunno. The library, maybe? Professor Grubbly-Plank assigned us that essay today on Hippogriffs." In Care of Magical Creatures, their professor had been going over the more dangerous varieties of magical animals, in alphabetical order. So far, they'd covered Acromantulas (giant spiders), Bornackies (a relative of the Crumple-Horned Snorkak), Dragons (which had taken up a lot of time, since there was so much to cover about them), Ermaimes (overgrown and vicious Ermines), Goblins (the mountain dwelling kind), Grave-diggers (a sort of zombie), and now, Hippogriffs (a strange cross between an eagle and a horse).

Wren smiled, "I almost forgot about that. Alright! To the library!" They headed off in that direction, only to find Peeves bouncing around on the ceiling, dancing to a song he'd come up with.

He stopped as he saw them approach. Severus held back a bit, but Wren came up closer. "Well well, if it isn't the two night walkers, out and about again." He said, surveying the two students.

Wren smiled, "Nice to see you again, Peeves."

"Right back at you." He replied, "Now, what mischief are we making today?" He asked, rubbing his hands together and cackling.

"No mischief, Peeves, we're going to do homework, if you'd move." Severus said, dislike for the Hogwarts ghost evident in his voice.

Peeves grinned, "I see you haven't forgotten our last encounter, Sevvy-Wevvy." He shook a finger at them in a scolding manner, "And you shan't pass young Severus." He said in a surprisingly good imitation of Professor McGonagall.

Severus glared at Peeves, "Let us by!"

"Come on Peeves, let us get through. The sooner we finish our homework, the sooner we can plot our next mischief making mission." Wren said before things between Peeves and Severus got much worse.

Peeves squealed in glee, "Oh mischief! What does it involve?" He asked excitedly, while Severus stared at Wren.

Wren thought for a moment, "Well, I think there should be some water involved someway, and perhaps a certain Hogwarts ghost to cause the chaos." She grinned wickedly at Peeves. "I'm not so good when it comes to pulling off pranks, and besides, we only just got out of our detentions."

Peeves nodded, "Oh, I understand about detentions. Why, when I was alive, there wasn't a day I wasn't in one!" He bobbed up and down excitedly. "Water…how about water balloons!?" He suggested, clapping his hands together, "Balloons are always nice."

Wren smiled again, "A brilliant idea if I ever heard one. Now, should we direct most of the teachers into a different direction before attacking?" She asked.

"A diversion! Excellent! A surprise attack! Oh goodie, goodie!! The little birdie's a smart one!" Peeves cackled. "But…what shall we use to distract the teachers? And when shall we attack with our diabolical plan?" He asked, frowning in thought.

"Perhaps," Severus said quietly, coming up slowly to stand beside Wren, "We could notify the teachers that there are many dung-bombs being set off up on the fifth floor by a certain Poltergeist, just before lunch sometime next week? You could set them off as we're telling them, and then come back down and bomb everyone with your water balloons in the Great Hall."

"OO! I like the sound of that! And you two won't get in any trouble either…it was all me!" Peeves cackled wickedly, "Unless you want to take some of the credit?" He asked, pausing in his bouncing and laughing.

"Our only wish is to aid you in keeping this place happy and chaotic." Wren said, bowing ridiculously.

"A worthy and admirable goal." Peeves said seriously, bowing back. "Well then, I shall see you later, fellow sidekicks!" Then he zoomed off, presumably in search of dung-bombs and water balloons, leaving the way clear for Wren and Severus.

Wren continued walking down their hall, waving after Peeves. Severus stood staring for a moment, and then ran to catch up with Wren. "How did you do that?" He asked incredulously, staring at her.

"Make Peeves go away?" Wren grinned, "I didn't. He went away himself, remember? All I did was give him a reason to leave."

Severus continued to stare at Wren in amazement, until he almost walked into a pillar. After another short while, they got to the library. Severus glanced around, spotted a group of Ravenclaws at one table, the Marauders and Lily and Tonks at another, and Lucius, Yaxley and a few other Slytherins cornering some Hufflepuff first years farther off.

"Um…Wren?" He asked, glancing at her, "Do you mind if we write our essays farther in?" He pointed towards the huge rows of bookshelves.

Wren smiled, "No, that's fine."

Severus looked relieved, and led the way through the colossal maze of books. Wren kept slowing down to take a closer look at some of the books. Sighing, Severus took her arm and pulled her along, to which Wren responded with a quiet laugh. Slipping her arm out of his grip, she instead took his hand with hers and walked beside him, making Severus go red.

They stopped near the very back of the library, in the History of Magic section. The books there were old and covered in a thick layer of dust. Looking around, Wren noticed that the table Severus was sitting down at looked brand new compared to the books. She sat down next to him. "You come here often then?" She asked, gesturing around at the books.

Severus nodded, "Yeah. None of the other students ever come back here…normally. It's quieter too." Sure enough, the dust and rows of shelves blocked out almost all of the sound coming from the main section of the library.

They pulled out their books and parchment, along with ink and quills. Severus raised his eyebrows at the small but beautiful feather Wren used as a quill. "I've never seen a quill like that…where'd you get it?" He asked, staring at it. It had a bright white middle, which darkened into a blue-grey. It caught the light just so too, making it almost look like it was shining.

Wren smiled, twirling it in her fingers, "It's one of Stoney's baby feathers from his first molt. I've had it for years…Top made it for me as an eleventh birthday present." She stroked it, closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair.

Severus watched her for a long moment, "You miss him." He stated, and Wren sat up, opening her eyes to smile at him.

"Yeah, I do." She sighed, "But let's get this paper done, eh?" Severus smiled and nodded, and they set to work. Severus ended up asking Wren lots of questions about Hippogriffs as they wrote, since all he knew about them was what he'd read about.

"So…they're not really that dangerous at all, are they?" Severus asked, after Wren had gone over their temperament in excruciating detail for him.

"Oh, they're very dangerous." Wren said mildly as she scribbled away on her parchment. "If you're disrespectful to them, it'll probably be the last thing you do." Wren grinned at the look on Severus' face when she glanced up at him. "You have to be polite, but that alone won't always do it. You have to mean it too. If you say to them, 'Your feathers are beautiful', you have to mean it. They can tell if you're just trying to flatter them. And of course, you've got to bow whenever you approach one. That's another mistake wizards make. Hippogriffs are very proud creatures, and demand respect at all times."

Severus nodded slowly, trying to picture what a real one looked like. The sketches in their books were very hurriedly drawn, and didn't look too life-like. He stared at one of the said sketches for a long time. Wren leaned on her elbow and watched him. "Would you like to see Stoney?" She asked after a while.

"You have a picture of him?" Severus asked excitedly.

"Yup." Wren stuck her hand in her robe pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "There you go!" She said, dropping it on top of Severus' books.

He opened it to see a wizard photograph of a Hippogriff, and a little girl. Both were moving, and he gazed at it amazed. The Hippogriff standing in the picture frame was almost big enough for the little girl to ride him. Stoney spread out his wings wide and reared, showing off his plumage. The front half of him was a dazzlingly bright blue-grey eagle, with huge talons, while the back half of him was a horse, also blue-grey in color. The way his feathers were colored, it made his front half look blue with white stripes.

"Isn't he adorable?" Wren asked, leaning over his shoulder to see the picture, coming so close to Severus that he could feel her warm breath on his cheek. He shivered involuntarily as he realized how close she must be to him, but he kept his eyes fixed on the picture.

"Yes, he is." Severus said with a smile, watching the Hippogriff prance proudly up to the camera and peck it once before racing back around the small paddock it was in. The little girl was running around with it, jumping and smiling. "Is that you, Wren?" He asked, pointing to the girl.

"Sure is." Wren said grinning. "I was just about 11 then."

He turned to look at her. Indeed she was very close to him; when she turned to look at him, their noses almost touched. Wren kept still, wondering if Severus would be brave enough to kiss her.

Severus was wondering similar thoughts, as well as others. _Will she be offended if I pull away? Will she be angry if I kiss her?_ He couldn't tear his gaze away from her eyes as he leaned in a bit closer, daring himself to go further.

Wren leaned in a fraction when Severus did, closing the gap until their lips lightly touched. The next few moments that passed seemed an eternity for them both. They sat quietly, their heads and lips together, but neither daring to actually kiss the other. Just as Wren began to pull away, Severus put his arm around the back of her neck and pulled her towards him, kissing her softly. Wren's picture fell out of his hand and drifted onto the table.

Wren felt like she could melt, it was so nice. She ran her hand through his hair slowly, stopping partway through. She kissed him back, opening her mouth slightly, inviting him in. Severus took the hint and deepened their kiss, shyly letting his tongue wander around in her mouth, while she did the same.

Severus stroked the back of Wren's head as he kissed her. Now it was Wren's turn to shiver involuntarily, and Severus leapt back immediately, thinking he'd scared her. "I'm sorry." He said quickly, turning pink as he looked at her. He stood up and backed away, almost as if he was afraid of Wren.

Wren stared at him confused, also slightly pink. She smiled, stood, and came closer to him, and he kept backing up, until the shelf of books stopped him. "I'm sorry!" He repeated, "I didn't mean…to…" He trailed off as Wren came up and kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck. It dawned on him that she hadn't shivered in fear, but in pleasure. _Oops…_ He thought, making a mental note to remember that in the future.

Despite the fact that Severus now knew Wren _wanted_ to kiss him and be kissed back, he still had virtually no clue what to do. He kept his hands firmly pressed against the wall behind him, not wanting to ruin everything by doing something stupid, although, his mouth was working furiously against Wren's.

Wren seemed to notice his lack of moving, and pulled back for a moment, and smiled at him. Severus smiled nervously, blushing. "Tell you what." Wren said with a grin, taking hold of his arms. "If you go too far, I'll smack you. Fair enough?" She put his arms around her waist, and placed her hand on one of his, stroking his fingers with hers, and leaned back into him to kiss him.

Severus smiled, "Fair enough." He pulled her even closer, kissing her, and slowly let his hands drift up from her waist, to crawl up her back, to cup her head, and then back down to her shoulders. Wren let him, her hands coming down from where one was around his neck and the other tangled in his hair, to his chest, where she could feel it tensing and relaxing alternately.

_This is, without a doubt, the best moment of my life._ Severus thought. Lily might have been a good kisser, but she'd only kissed him that once, and it certainly hadn't made his blood boil like it was now.

Severus felt his mind blanking as he and Wren made out, deep in the back of the library, leaving out everything except Wren. He felt his confidence grow as they kissed, and he slowly moved away from the bookshelf towards the opposite one, gently pushing Wren that way. Again, she let him, and found herself pressed up against thick, dusty volumes. Severus stepped even closer to her, taking her hands and lacing them together with his, holding them close to their chests. He started working his way away from her mouth and left a trail of kisses down her jaw, spending quite a few minutes at the spot where her jaw met her neck and ear. Severus was now pushed up against Wren, sandwiching her between the books and himself.

A quiet voice came from next to his ear, "Easy there, Sev. I can hardly breathe." Wren said, pushing lightly on his chest. Emotions, kissing and being pushed up against a bookshelf was indeed making it harder to breathe.

He smiled, and stepped back, watching Wren with dark eyes. She smiled back, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear simultaneously. After a moment, Severus spoke, "Lily must have said something about me to you. She always called me Sev." Wren nodded, and Severus hesitated before asking a question he'd been wanting to ask. "Why didn't you go out with Black? I heard him asking you enough times."

Wren smiled, "Sirius is just a friend, and we've agreed to keep it that way." She pulled Severus closer again and traced his jaw line with a finger. "Besides," She grinned devilishly, "He may be cute, but he's got nothing on you."

Severus felt his face grow red, "I'm cute?" He asked.

"Oh no…" Wren frowned, "No, you're not cute." Severus stared at her in confusion, and Wren laughed, "You're frickin _hot_." Severus smiled, looking away and going redder.

Wren laughed again, and kissed him on the cheek. He turned back and smiled again at her, nervously. "I know it's selfish of me, but would you mind if we didn't make this…well, public?" He looked away again. "It's just…I don't think any of our friends would be overjoyed about it."

Wren smiled at him, "I understand, and that's fine with me."

He looked at her, bewildered, "You're okay with that?" Wren nodded firmly. "Are you sure?" He asked, pulling her into a hug, "Because I can deal with it, I just thought that this way might be easier..."

"Really, Sev. I'm fine with it." Wren hugged him back, and smiled at him, silencing further protests with another kiss, which was perfectly fine with Severus.

* * *

So...how'd you like it? I think you should review and tell me...please? 


	20. Chapter 20: Hogsmeade at Last!

Finally! Sorry for the long wait guys. It's not much, but here's the next chapter! I've been so busy lately, it's not even funny. I have an exchange student staying with me, and between keeping her happy and keeping my sister out of trouble, I'm swamped. I shall update soon though! IF IT KILLS ME!

...which it probably will...

* * *

Severus stood on the front steps of the school, looking out towards the lake. Today he was going to show Wren around Hogsmeade. He smiled as he thought of Wren. It was weird…he was quiet and moody, and she was friendly and unpredictable. They were exact opposites, but perhaps that was why he liked her so much. Severus mused over those things as he turned from the steps and headed back inside through the double oak doors.

Entering the great hall, he glanced down the Slytherin table to find to his delight, that Lucius, Yaxley, and the others were nowhere to be found. _Good. Peace and quiet for once._ He thought, taking a seat nearest the doors. Silently, he began to eat, choosing bacon, sausages and poached eggs as his meal.

He glanced up occasionally when people entered the hall, and finally, Wren came in, yawning widely. Severus watched silently as Tonks and Sirius crept up behind Wren and grabbed her from behind to pull her into a big hug. The look on Wren's startled face was priceless, but she was laughing with them as she hugged them back. A sudden pang of wanting hit Severus hard as he watched the three friends. He'd never had a close friendship with anyone…unless you counted Lily, but that was before he'd screwed that one over.

Sighing heavily, he turned back to his now runny eggs, and ate them without really tasting them. Without fail, he could make himself depressed whether he wanted to or not. But this time, there was something that made him come back to being happy, despite his longing for good friends.

His thoughts turned from wanting good friends back to Wren, and he grinned at his plate as he remembered the night before. He and Wren had stayed in the library long after Madame Pince closed it up, kissing and smiling and talking quietly together. They still had their essays to finish, but today was a day devoid of schoolwork and filled with fun.

Still smiling, Severus turned to look at Wren. She noticed his gaze and smiled brightly at him, before turning back to talk to Sirius and Tonks.

-----

"Come on Wren! Why can't I show you around Hogsmeade today?" Sirius asked, backed up by an enthusiastically nodding Tonks.

Wren laughed and clasped Sirius' shoulder, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She said, glancing sideways at Tonks as she did. Tonks grinned at her. She understood the reason was something Wren didn't want to discuss or share, and she was willing to wait.

"Let's go get some grub, Sirius, before James and Remus eat it all." Tonks said, grabbing Sirius by the arm.

Sirius turned away from Wren to glance confusedly at Tonks, and then dashed off towards his friends and the food, grinning and waving goodbye to them as he went.

Wren shook her head in exasperation and smiled at Tonks. Tonks sighed loudly, "Mention food to a guy and they're gone in seconds." She smiled, and gave Wren one final hug before starting to follow Sirius. "You will tell me what all of this is about eventually, won't you?" She asked as she turned away.

"'Course." Wren waved, made sure that her friends were preoccupied with other things, and then headed over to Severus.

"Is this spot taken?" She asked as she reached him.

Severus smiled, "Of course not." He ate a few bites, before realizing that Wren hadn't dished herself up anything. "…Aren't you going to eat?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Wren shook her head, "Nope. I'm not hungry." Severus looked at her oddly for a long time. She grinned and looked away from him, "Oh, don't look at me like that. I'll eat something later, okay?" Severus didn't reply, but sighed and finished up his food.

After downing the last of his pumpkin juice, Severus stood up. "Shall we go then?" He asked, glancing sideways over at Sirius, Remus, and James. Wren glanced that way too, then nodded and stood. Together they left the great hall quietly.

They walked down the grassy slope in silence walking close together so that their arms brushed each other. They passed through the gates guarded by gargoyles, and Severus had to pull Wren away from her inspection of them.

Another few minutes and they were on the main street of Hogsmeade. Severus smiled at Wren and began his role as a tour guide. "Where to start…Well, Zonko's Joke Shop is right there on the left…" He pointed, "They've got all sorts of things in there…your friends will be in there no doubt. And across from there is Honeydukes. They have every kind of candy you could imagine, plus a few more. The post office is there next to Zonko's…" Severus went on for a few minutes, telling Wren where everything was and a brief description of what each shop contained.

Wren tried her best to remember where everything was and followed Severus' pointing finger. When he was done, he turned to her. She stared back at him, suddenly feeling awkward.

"Soooo…where d'you want to go first?" Severus asked, going slightly pink as Wren looked at him oddly.

The odd look passed from Wren's face and she smiled brightly. "Honeydukes!" They both made their way over to the candy shop.

And so the major money spending spree began. Wren bought a ton of candy in Honeydukes, and bought many trinkets from Zonko's joke shop. Severus bought just as much candy as her, but didn't get much from Zonko's. They looked around in the post office, paused briefly in their exploration for a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, and then went into quite a few more shops. There was an apothecary down a side street, where Severus bought a number of things from. He recommended one of the books they had to Wren, who after skimming over the first few pages, bought it.

Eventually, laden with bags full of all manner of things, the two students made their way up a small hill. Severus talked while they made their way up it. "This is where the Shrieking Shack is." He dropped his voice for a moment. "It's where Remus goes when he goes all…you know…fluffy. But it's got a nice view of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts from the hill…what?" He asked, as Wren looked at him oddly again.

"Remus is…fluffy…?" Wren smiled widely, "It just…it sounded so funny when you said it. 'He goes all…fluffy.'" Wren started giggling, which progressed into such laughter that it was a moment before she realized they'd crested the hill. Severus was scowling at her, which made her laugh harder, and made him scowl even more. Eventually, Severus' face grew unreadable as he watched Wren.

"Why are you laughing at me?" He asked eventually.

Wren grinned at him and stepped closer to him, "Because you're funny!" She slipped her arm into his.

Severus blinked in confusion, and then smiled, "So first, I'm 'frickin hot', and now I'm

'funny'?" He pulled Wren closer until their noses touched.

"You got it!" Wren said, kissing him softly before pulling away. She looked around at the pine trees surrounding them, and then walked a little ways down the hill to see the Shrieking Shack. "Wow…it does look haunted." She said, staring at the decrepit old building. Severus nodded, stepping up behind her and wrapping one arm around the front of her shoulders after setting the brown bags he had down.

Wren leaned backwards into him, taking in the view. "It's beautiful…" She said quietly, staring out towards the Hogwarts castle.

Severus nodded again, his eyes not on the view, but on Wren. "Yeah."

Wren glanced sideways at him, a smile appearing on her face. Severus didn't notice her watching him watch her for a while. He was too busy running his fingers through her hair and watching it fall back to her shoulders.

"Why don't we eat lunch here?" Wren asked eventually.

Severus came out of his reverie and blinked, "What do you mean? We don't have any food."

"Severus…" Wren said with a grin, "We've got enough candy to feed an army here."

Severus' smile died on its way to his lips. "It's a good thing too." He said, looking past Wren, back up the hill from where they'd come.

Now it was Wren's turn to be confused. "Why?"

"Because we've got company." Severus said with a sinking feeling as the voices he denied he could hear were matched to the people that appeared over the rise of the hill.

* * *

Muahaha for the cliffy! But you can all probably guess who it is, yes? And, so you don't hate me for having to wait, I blame MissJessicaRiddle for addicting me to cliffys! MUAHAHAA!! It was her! She made me!

:takes this opportunity to run for her life:

Just kidding. It was all my idea to cliffy it. Don't hate me Miss Jessica!


	21. Chapter 21: FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

Nyee...It's still too shooooort... Sorry mates. Still hectic around here, but since school has started I discovered two things about my school life. One, it's horribly boring, and two (most importantly) I have two free periods in a row!! Which means I can type some!! YAAY! So, I'm going to work on that next week, and I've also got no homework this weekend. All very very good things if you ask me. So, next chapter I hope will be at LEAST 5 pages in Word. This one's only 3.

FallinAngelGirl, I believe it was ye who asked about my exchange student. She's from Japan, and she absolutely loves America!! Land of the free, home of the brave, all that good stuff. She has 3 English classes (English 9, TOEFL, and English Language Development) and she's also taking Spanish 1, so...in my books, she's crazy to be taking on that much stuff!! CRAAAAZZZYYYY!!! ...Ahem...

Onwards with the story of impending happiness! Or doom...whichever you'd prefer.

* * *

Sirius, James, Remus, Tonks, and Lily made their way up the hill to the shrieking shack slowly, laughing and joking. Sirius was talking about a prank they'd pulled on Professor McGonagall earlier in the week, "Yeah, and then she went bright blue while she was talki--" He stopped mid-sentence, staring down the hill in confusion.

James poked Sirius, "Hey, what's the deal?" He asked, before he followed Sirius' gaze. A look akin to Sirius' appeared on his face, but Remus remained emotionless, peering down the hill with a more intrigued look than confusion.

They could see two people standing at the bottom of the hill, looking up at them, and they all knew who it was.

Tonks and Lily were the first to react, unfreezing their limbs and making their way down the hill towards Wren and Severus.

-----

Wren glanced sideways at Severus as Tonks and Lily approached. His gaze was latched onto the boys' figures farther up the hill. Wren sighed inwardly, and then smiled at Tonks and Lily as they reached them. "Hey you two!" She greeted them.

Tonks smiled, "Hi Wren! E'llo Severus." She looked from Wren to Severus and a look of realization fell over her face. Lily smiled at Wren, but she only managed a tiny reproduction of it for Severus. "Hey." She said.

Lily and Tonks glanced at each other, and then looked at Wren, raising their eyebrows at her. Wren didn't say anything, but her face grew a shade redder and she glanced at Severus. Lily and Tonks smirked at the two, glancing again at each other. Severus wasn't following any of the silent female communication, so he kept an eye on the Marauders, who were coming down the hill.

Tonks grinned, "So this is why Sirius couldn't show you around…someone had already beaten him to it, eh?"

Wren smiled, "Yeah, you could say that."

Lily smiled at Severus fully this time, "Should we go, Sev? We don't want to intrude or anything."

Severus almost fell over in shock. It was the first complete sentence Lily had said to him in over a year. He shook his head, "You don't have to go." He seemed to not completely be 100 honest with his answer as he glanced at the Marauders who were almost in hearing distance.

Lily grinned, "We won't tell them…no offense, but they're boys…they'd believe you if you said you could fly."

Wren winked at them, a silent thank you, and then turned and waved at the Marauders. "Come over here and join us! We were just about to stuff ourselves with candy!" She laughed as both Sirius and Remus slightly increased their pace to reach them faster.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked as the others joined them. "Why's _he_ here?"

Severus glared at Sirius, "I do believe I'm allowed to be up here." His voice was conversational, but his eyes were full of malice and hate.

Wren sensed danger and stepped quickly in, "We were talking Sirius. Honestly." She grinned, and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"About what?" Remus wanted to know. He stood casually beside Sirius, his hands behind his back, making him look a bit like a professor. He smiled genuinely at Severus, and Severus figured he was really only curious and not trying to start something.

"Wren was telling me about her Hippogriffs." He said, his mind moving back to their conversation in the library, "And we were admiring the view."

Wren bit her lip hard to stop a giggling fit when Severus finished the last part of his sentence. Picking up hers and Severus' bags, she handed him his and then sat down on the grass. When no one seemed to be joining her, she grinned. "Fine…more for me." She turned her bag upside down and emptied a huge pile of candy onto the grass. Remus, Tonks and Lily immediately sat down next to Wren, selecting a piece of candy each, with Wren's permission.

Wren kept an eye on the others as she searched through the pile of candy. After a long moment of glaring at each other, Severus, Sirius, and James sat down, completing the small circle of students.

They all rummaged through the candy for a moment, and then sat back to eat it. Wren had chosen Every Flavor Beans and was sharing with Tonks, Lily had a caramel apple, Severus picked out some Cockroach Clusters, Sirius and James were quietly squabbling over a large packet of Whistlers, and Remus was happily nibbling at his bar of chocolate.

Tonks kept grinning at Wren, and every time she did, Wren threw jellybeans at her. They all began discussions of who had the best common room, and it turned into a small candy war, in which Lily almost got beheaded by a Fizzing Whizzbee. After that, the conversation was directed to favorite classes. That's when things started to get a bit ugly.

Severus was arguing with James and Sirius about Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and which was more useful.

"You never know when you might run into a dark wizard." James was saying.

"Oh yeah, that's _really_ likely, considering this is Hogwarts, guarded by spells and enchantments to keep that sort of thing out." Severus scoffed.

"There must be a loop hole somewhere in the system though…" Sirius said thoughtfully, before a smirk spread over his face. "…otherwise there wouldn't be slimy gits like you around, Snivelly."

In a flash, Severus tackled Sirius. Being no match for him at hand to hand combat and such, he went straight for his wand, jamming it against his throat. "Say that again." He whispered, menacingly quiet. "Give me a reason to hex you." His eyes glinted maliciously. "I dare you."

Sirius remained perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe. "You wouldn't." He said shakily, as if to convince himself.

"Oh wouldn't I?" Severus replied, keeping Sirius pinned to the ground with his wand. Behind him, James quietly drew closer, and Wren, Tonks and Lily had their wands drawn. Remus was watching the proceedings with a look of disgust on his face.

James tackled Severus, and Sirius rolled out from under Severus' wand's tip. Severus and James rolled a few feet and then started fighting, throwing punches at whatever they could see and reach. Sirius leaped into the fray and joined the fight.

Wren jumped up, and Tonks and Lily copied her immediately. "Now?" Lily asked, watching the boys with wide eyes.

"Wait." Tonks replied, keeping her wand trained on the boys.

The three girls let the others fight without interfering until Severus went for his wand again, and Sirius and James went for theirs in the same instant. "Now." Wren said quietly.

Wren, Tonks and Lily all fired disarming spells at Sirius, Severus and James. Their wands flew out of their hands, landing softly on the ground. As they all paused in their tussle to turn and stare at the three girls questioningly, Wren, Tonks and Lily petrified the three of them.

Wren smiled apologetically at them, Tonks laughed openly at their frozen faces, and Lily shook her head in disgust. Severus was sporting a torn lip and bloody nose, but James' nose on the other hand, looked broken. Sirius had what appeared to be two swelling black eyes.

Severus, James and Sirius had no choice now but to wait for the curse to be lifted, and, considering the casters all looked rather annoyed, that might take a while.

* * *

I seriously think Padfoot, Prongs and Moony would all be great friends with Sev, and vice-versa, if they just TRIED HARD ENOUGH!!! AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!! ...I want to smack their heads together...but I can't. Soooo...tell me how you liked it!! Please? You know you want tooooooooo!!! Tell you what. If I get 5 reviews for this chapter, I shall (somehow...) make the next chapter not at least 5 pages long, but at least 10 pages long!! Won't that be nice? Yes? Ah, and I'll even throw in a promise to not cliff-hang you this time!! So, review please! 


	22. Chapter 22: Idiots

AHAHAHAAA!! Like I promised, here it is! 11 pages on Word...took forever. It's 3.40 am right now, as I'm typing this. I stayed up late for you guys! I've been so busy lately...

I read your comments for last chapter and took all of them into account. One of you wanted Sevvy hurt a bit more, and one of you mentioned that you thought Sev wouldn't appreciate girls helping him out and then said that on the other hand, he's just happy someone likes him. And another said that the Marauders and Sev could get along if the Marauders just stopped annoying Sev and calling him names. So...those comments have been added into the story. Kudos if you find them!!

And enjoy the long chapter!! I shall try to get another one up very very soon! Two days tops.

* * *

Wren, Tonks and Lily approached the three petrified boys slowly, taking their time. As they got to the bottom of the slope, Tonks' laughter faded away and was replaced by a frown. Her hair slowly changed from the normal bright purple, to a dark shade of red. Lily's face mimicked Tonks' expression, and Wren too didn't look pleased.

Tonks was the one to start on Severus, Sirius and James first, while Wren fetched the wands belonging to the three boys. "Right, boys, listen up, because if you don't, we'll leave you here all night. Got me?" She glared at them, and they all blinked frantically as a 'we're listening'. Tonks smiled, "Good. Now, the first thing is, you're all idiots."

Lily covered up a snort of laughter with a cough. "That's rather blunt, Tonks."

"Ah, I agree. I've never been one to explain things in great detail though…" Tonks said thoughtfully, tapping her elbow with two fingers.

Wren took up the chastising next. "What Tonks means is, you're all acting like a bunch of first years. Come on, guys! You're upperclassmen. Why the hell are you being so stupid?"

Lily continued on immediately, "Sirius, James, we all know you don't get along with Severus, even from the start, but that's no reason to torment him. If you really _must_ do that, then do it for a good reason." All three girls noticed a gleam of anger and defiance enter Sirius' and James' eyes.

By now it was becoming clear to the three boys that the girls had been planning a talk to them.

Tonks went on, "And don't give us those looks." She paused for a moment and looked away towards the castle. "Peter's death was sad and tragic for all of us." She was silent again for another long while, before turning back towards the frozen boys. "Lily and I noticed your hate for Severus has increased since his death, but it was an accident."

"Why can't you see that?" Wren asked quietly, gazing at each of them. "Severus _did_ shove him out of the window, but it wasn't intentional. He tried to grab him, but he didn't. I didn't know Peter, but I'm sure it was hard on all of you." She got even quieter, "I think you accept Peter's death, but I also think you all partially blame yourselves for it. Severus, you were the one who pushed him, and we understand why you think it's your fault. But it was an _ACCIDENT_. No one can be blamed for that."

Wren shifted her sympathetic gaze from Severus to James and Sirius. "I'm sure it's crossed your minds that if you'd kept a closer tab on your friend he might not have gotten into that fight. Wherever you were, you could have asked him to come with you." Wren fell silent again. The boys were looking at each other out of the corners of their eyes.

Lily spoke up. "Did it ever occur to you how Severus felt about the whole thing?"

"Of course you didn't." Tonks continued from where Lily left off. "You just took one look at him and hexed him." She looked at Severus, "It's not just them. You encouraged them, always having to yell an insult back or something. You could have ignored them. After a while they'd have gotten bored you know." Severus met Tonks' gaze steadily, without emotion.

Wren, Lily and Tonks glanced at each other, and then back at the boys. "You know," Wren said thoughtfully, "If you guys didn't hate each other so passionately, you'd be friends." Lily and Tonks burst out laughing, and Wren grinned. "It's true you know." She said as her friends tried to quell their giggling, but she too, had to try hard to stop grinning as she saw the smoldering rage burning in the three boy's eyes.

Wren tucked away the boys' wands into her pocket, along with her own, and she, Lily and Tonks returned over to Remus. "He agrees with us, in case you were wondering why he isn't petrified as well." Tonks said over her shoulder. "He doesn't have a problem with being Severus' friend, and he must not mind hanging out with you two either." She grinned back at them.

Lily walked backwards to wave at the boys. "We'll just let you think for a few minutes on what we said, and then we'll un-curse you."

The girls sat down a short ways away from the silently fuming Padfoot, Prongs and Severus, and munched on some more candy. Tonks moved over and was almost sitting in Remus' lap, who looked quite content with that arrangement. Lily and Tonks began an argument about which Quidditch team was going to win the championship later on in the year. Wren and Remus listened and laughed, but after a short while, Remus gazed out into space, ignoring his surroundings.

Wren flopped onto her back and stared up at the bright blue sky. She watched some small wisps of clouds being blown about, before rolling onto her stomach. She allowed an ant to crawl over her hand and onto a leaf, before she stood up and made her way over to the petrified, dark haired, (as Tonks put it so wonderfully) idiots.

Wren smiled brightly at them, and then performed the counter-curse for them. Severus stumbled forwards as his limbs unfroze, and next to him he saw Sirius swaying unsteadily. James had already sat down, waiting for full coordination to sink back in. \

Sirius turned to look at Severus, who smiled nervously at him. Sirius grinned back, and then punched him hard on the jaw, sending Severus reeling backwards onto the ground.

Severus opened his mouth to yell at him, and then winced and slowly closed it again. He reached up to feel his jaw, and found a bump that shouldn't have been there. _Great…that asshole's dislocated my jaw._ He glared up at Sirius, silently demanding to know why he did that.

Seeing the look on Wren's and Severus' faces, Sirius rolled his eyes. "Now we're even, you twit." He said to Severus, pointing at his broken nose. Being a guy, Severus accepted that statement, but Wren looked even angrier.

Sirius quickly stepped forwards to offer Severus a hand up, and flinched back as Wren went for her wand, mistaking the action for more trouble. "Jeez…" He exclaimed as Wren relaxed again, now aware of her mistake. "This isn't Azkaban or something, you know." Sirius looked down at Severus, "Well? Do you want help up or what?"

Severus decided that the best thing to do was to accept Sirius' offered help, since both Sirius and Wren were rather high strung at the moment. Before he did though, he took his jaw carefully and snapped it back into place. It still stung a bit, but it wasn't throbbing anymore.

He grasped Sirius' hand, and was pulled up and detached from the contact faster than he could blink. Feeling slightly hurt, Severus asked quietly, "Aren't you considered a blood traitor in your family?"

"That's none of your business." Sirius snapped.

"It's not, but are you?" Severus continued in an even tone.

"Mum and dad hate my guts, yeah." Sirius said sullenly, glaring at Severus.

"Do you think you are?" Severus pressed.

"A traitor? No. I never did anything."

"Oh…okay…" Severus trailed off, and then walked over to Wren, who had returned to the candy pile. James followed, along with a confused Sirius.

Sirius grabbed Severus' arm, "What was all that about?" He demanded.

Severus shrugged, "It's how I feel sometimes." He said mildly. "You hate me for some reason when I didn't really do anything wrong." Severus carefully detached his arm from Sirius' grip and kept walking. "I guess Wren and the others are right. We're rather alike, aren't we?"

Sirius stared after Severus and then grabbed him again. "You agree with them then?" He asked blankly.

"Don't you?" Came the quiet reply.

Before Sirius could reply, Severus said, half to himself, "Wren sure is something else, isn't she?"

"Eh?"

Severus turned to look at Sirius again. "She sees sides to us that we don't even know about." He was silent, and then laughed, "I'll never understand women."

Sirius finally recovered, and he half smiled. "I suppose you're right. They're too complex for us simple beings."

Severus smirked back, when Tonks called to them, "Are you two actually being civilized!?" She asked in mock astonishment.

Wren and Tonks laughed as Sirius and Severus both took a step away from each other before sitting down on either side of Wren. Lily pulled out a pack of cards. "Exploding Snap anyone?" She asked with a devilish grin.

"Hell no." James said immediately. "You always win." He yelped when Lily cuffed him around the head.

"I don't really like that game…" Severus said.

Wren nodded, "Me too. I'll sit this out, but I'll watch." She grinned.

As Lily began dealing out the cards to herself, Tonks, Remus, James, and Sirius, Severus leaned over to Wren. "Why'd you do that?" He asked.

Wren gazed at him, "What? Not play Exploding Snap?"

"No. Why'd you petrify us and then yell at us?" Severus said.

"Oh. Because…" Wren said as she reached out to wipe some blood off of Severus' face. "Tonks, Lily and I are sick of you all fighting. There's really no need to is there? And we weren't yelling."

"No, I suppose not…" Severus said slowly. Wren scooted closer to him and wiped all of the blood off of Severus' face. Severus closed his eyes as she did. When he opened his eyes, Wren was inches from his face, watching him. Severus smiled at her and then hurriedly glanced over towards the others. None of them had noticed; they were too absorbed in their game, and Severus sighed in relief.

He almost stole a quick kiss from Wren, but stopped. After becoming more…what would you call it…civilized? acquainted? something like that, with the Marauders, Severus realized how easily it could go back to hexing and fighting.

Wren seemed to follow his frame of mind and pulled back, just as James' cards blew up in his face. She laughed, along with Lily, who was clutching her side in pain as she laughed.

Wren noticed Sirius was touching his broken nose gingerly and frowning. She scooted closer to him, and smiled. "Is it broken?" She asked.

"Yeah…" Sirius glanced at Severus, but didn't say anything about him.

"Want me to fix it for you?" Wren continued, and when Sirius nodded, she reached up quickly, and snapped the bone back into place. Sirius yelped in pain and flinched back, clutching his face.

After recovering from the pain of it, Wren spelled the blood off of his face for him, and handed over his wand. James got his back too, and Sirius immediately decided to aid him in removing the ashes from his face by squirting water out of his wand at him.

Severus watched James splutter and curse, as Sirius and the others laughed. It was a long moment before he realized Wren was sitting next to him again.

He grinned, "You're like a magnet or something."

A look of offense came over Wren's face. "Well, sorry for wanting to hang out." She said teasingly.

"I didn't mean it like that…" Severus started.

"I know." Wren laughed. James was now fleeing from Sirius' water fountain-ing skills, and he leaped behind Severus, taking shelter.

"Save me!" He said, through a grimace and laugh.

Severus glanced over at Sirius, who motioned with his hand to duck down. "On three." He mouthed at Severus. Severus grinned back, and waited as Sirius held only one finger out, then two, and finally three.

Severus ducked, Sirius fired, and James got hit square in the face with more water. "OI! NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR!" James yelped, laughing so hard his face was red. Sirius lifted his wand, and the water ceased spilling out the end of it.

A sopping wet James stood up and shook his head from side to side, sending a shower of water everywhere. Sirius and Lily were in fits of laughter, practically falling over. Remus and Tonks had edged farther away from the group and were now cuddling and talking quietly.

Wren sighed, and smiled at Severus, who shook his head. "Come on," Wren said, "Let's have one more game of Exploding Snap!"

-----

Two hours later, everyone had singed eyebrows, except Lily. The candy was all gone, and it was getting late.

"We should probably head back soon." Severus said, as he stood looking towards the castle. He turned back to the others, "Don't you think?"

James checked his watch, and nodded. "You're right Snivelly. Let's head back, gang."

Severus frowned at him, "Do you really have to call me that?"

James looked puzzled for a moment, and then grinned, "Never called you anything else, really. Old habits die hard, I guess." Then he did something that made Severus almost fall over as he leaned down to pick up a few wrappers he'd missed. "Sorry."

Severus stood up quickly, and stared at him blankly. James rolled his eyes. "I _have_ been known to be nice."

-----

Severus fell into step beside Wren as the band of students made their way up the sloping lawns to the castle. Tonks, Lily, Remus, James, and Sirius had gone on ahead; technically, Wren and Severus had fallen back. Whatever.

They were silent for a while, and then Severus spoke. "You didn't have to."

Wren sighed, "Sev, you've got to start explaining things in more detail or teach me how to mind read. What didn't I have to do?"

Severus smiled, "You didn't have to interfere. With that fight…We'd have been okay."

"Yeeeah…and you'd have been whacked to a bloody pulp and James and Sirius would've eaten all your candy. Everything would definitely be okay." Wren said sarcastically, smiling. "Besides, you guys needed to think about things. You know?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "I do know, but still…"

Wren laughed, "Ah, I get it. You didn't like girls saving your ass, did you?"

The dark haired boy smiled ruefully, but didn't answer for a moment. "I'm just glad someone likes me and is willing to help me."

"Glad to be of service!" Wren suddenly grabbed Severus' arm, and pulled him into a tight hug. After a moment of total shocked silence on Severus' part, she let go and started walking again.

"What was that all about?" Severus asked, jogging to catch up to her.

"I felt like giving you a hug." Wren smiled at him, "Don't you ever feel like that?"

"Er…no…not really." Severus said confusedly. They climbed up the steps together, just as the great hall opened up, ready for dinner to begin.

The others were waiting for Wren and Severus just inside the doors. Wren sighed. "I wish there weren't house tables…then we could all sit together."

"That'll be the day." Tonks said sadly.

"I don't think they do that because of house rivalry stuff…" Remus said, patting Tonks' shoulder.

The troupe split up, Severus going to the Slytherin table, Wren to the Ravenclaws, Tonks to the Hufflepuffs, and the others to Gryffindor. It seemed like the food would never come, and as such, it was delayed further as Dumbledore stood up from his place at the staff table.

"I hope all of you have had a nice day in Hogsmeade." He said loudly and clearly, "Or at the very least, a wonderful Saturday! I have a few announcements, so if I could please have your undivided attention for a few moments, we can eat faster." The last of the talking kids fell silent and turned to look at the headmaster.

"Thank you very much. Many of you have noticed that our Quidditch tryouts have been extremely late this year. All of us staff members have been extra busy for some reason this year, and we never got around to scheduling the tryouts. Therefore, the team tryouts will be tomorrow, so talk to your head of house if you're interested." Sirius and James, along with others from every table, cheered loudly.

"Next, winter break will be coming up very soon, and if you are staying at Hogwarts, you need to sign up. Tomorrow at breakfast, Professor McGonagall will come around with a roster for you to sign. I assure you, the pudding is to die for." Dumbledore smiled brightly at the students.

"And lastly, I feel the need to announce that you avoid the 6th floor corridors as much as possible for the next few days. Peeves has discovered the pleasures of water balloons, and is nailing every person he sees." Wren and Severus exchanged guilty glances at each other.

"Without further ado, I'd like you all to enjoy the meal!" Dumbledore sat down, and the hall was once again filled with talk and laughter, along with food to go with it.

-----

Dinner was over, and Wren was making her way upstairs towards the dorms. She had gotten to the second floor, when she was scared out of her wits by Severus. He suddenly appeared out of the shadows slightly to her left, and she leaped backwards in fright. He smiled widely at her. "Boo."

"Severus Tobias Snape, never do that again!" Wren said shakily, laughing nervously. Calming down a bit, she continued, "What's up?"

Severus shrugged, "You didn't say anything after dinner, that's all."

Wren smiled, and took his hand in hers. She ran her fingers across his palm and down to his fingertips, marveling at how pale they were. "Your hands are really cold." She said, taking a hold of the other one.

Severus shrugged again, "They normally are." Feeling a little self conscious, he pulled his hands away. Wren seemed to understand, and they walked down the corridor.

They got to the third floor, and were halfway down a corridor when a strange feeling came over Severus, and he paused to contemplate it. As he looked at Wren, he felt an overwhelming urge to grab her and hold onto her and never let go. _Is that what she meant earlier?_ He wondered.

Wren got only a step ahead before she stopped and turned back to look at Severus questioningly. "What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing." Severus said, shaking his head. They continued walking, but this time when Wren took his hand, Severus didn't pull away. As they climbed a set of stairs, the strange urge grew stronger and stronger, overtaking everything else Severus thought of.

Unable to withstand it anymore, Severus grabbed Wren and pushed her backwards, into an alcove, a short ways from the top of the stairs they'd just climbed. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. A few moments later, he felt arms wrap around his waist, pulling him tighter. After a while he pulled back and kissed Wren, pinning her arms against the wall. Wren didn't seem to care too much, and she kissed him back.

Severus pulled back again to look at Wren, and he half smiled at her. "What was all that about?" Wren asked, grinning.

"I felt like it." Severus replied, before kissing her again. This time, Wren did seem to mind being held against the wall. _Let me hold you, Sev…_ She thought, pulling away from the wall. Severus complied, releasing her. His hands went to her waist, and he pressed her to him. Wren ran her hands through his hair over and over again. Finally, they pulled away from each other.

Severus smiled fully at Wren. He was truly happy at this moment.

Wren touched the side of his face. "There's that smile I like." She whispered, which made Severus smile even wider. She spent a long moment running her hands over Severus' face, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her touch on his skin.

Wren finally finished, and Severus kissed her again, hard. She moaned quietly, and Severus was moved to deepen their kiss, putting as much passion as he could muster into it. Wren copied him, and they drew in deep breaths every few seconds. Severus kissed Wren again, softer this time, cupping her chin in one hand.

They stopped after a long while, and held onto each other in the growing darkness, content with the other's presence. Eventually, they said good night, and happy but tired, the two went their separate ways towards their dorms.

-----

The next morning, Wren bounced in and sat down next to Severus in the nearly deserted Great Hall. "Morning!" She said brightly, grabbing a frosted doughnut.

Severus smiled tiredly, "Morning…" He watched Wren for a moment, and then asked, "How do you find the energy, this early in the morning?"

"Sev, it's almost ten." Wren said through a mouthful of doughnut.

"Exactly." He replied, smiling.

Wren rolled her eyes, and swallowed her huge mouthful. "I was wondering…did you sign that thing McGonagall brought around earlier?"

"Yeah, I always stay here at Christmas. Why?" Severus asked, throwing one leg over the bench to sit sideways and see Wren better.

Wren grinned, "I was going to invite you to my house for winter break, that's why."

Severus' mouth dropped open in shock. "Really?" He choked after a moment.

"Really really." Wren replied, laughing. "I can send a letter to my folks later today."

"Will they mind?" Severus asked, his smile fading from his face. "I'll be intruding."

Wren smacked him lightly on the arm. "No you won't. I wouldn't invite you if you were, and all my family want to meet you. In a way, you were my first friend here, and that makes you special to them, and me." Wren took another bite of her doughnut.

Severus smiled, "Okay, but tell me this."

"Anything." Wren said.

"Why are you eating a doughnut? I thought you didn't eat breakfast."

"Ah," Wren said in a mysterious voice, "That is a good question. The answer, is that breakfast is supposed to be healthy, and a powdery, sugary doughnut is far from being healthy. So I'm not eating breakfast. I'm just eating a doughnut." Severus shook his head and laughed, and Wren joined in.

"Do you have any homework?" Wren then asked.

"Nope. Got it all done Friday." Severus said, taking a swig from his pumpkin juice.

"Good! We can go on a walk or something." Wren smiled. She scooted closer to Severus on the bench, and gave him another hug. He returned it with enthusiasm.

He pulled back, "Weren't you going to try out for the Quidditch team?"

"I was thinking about it, but I don't think I will." Wren replied, smiling. "I prefer flying for pleasure. I never really was one for competitive sports."

Severus nodded, and they left the great hall, heading outside. They walked down to the lake in companiable silence, before either spoke.

"Perhaps you could teach me how to fly…" Severus said, looking over towards the Quidditch pitch.

Wren smiled, "Sure." She paused, and the asked, "Do you like camping?"

Severus shrugged, "I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Wren asked, looking at him incredulously. "You've never been?" There was disbelief in her voice.

"No…dad didn't have time for that sort of stuff." Severus said quietly, sitting down on the grassy lake edge. Wren sat down beside him, and put an arm around him.

"I'll bet you'd like it. You go up into the hills and put up at tent, and cook marshmallows on an open fire, and then go swimming in the pond…" Wren smiled.

Severus wrapped an arm around Wren, "It sounds fun." He returned her smile, and laid back on the ground to stare at the sky.

"I should probably write home and tell them you're going to come." Wren said after a moment.

Severus nodded, "Yeah." He laced his fingers behind his head and closed his eyes. Wren pulled out some parchment and a quill, and began scribbling a letter to her family.

_Hey everyone!_

_Severus decided he wants to come and stay with us for the holidays. He seems really happy about it. I can't wait for you all to meet him, and he can't wait to meet you!_

_Top, How's your new job at the Ministry going? I hope it's working out. I want to hear all about it when I get home._

_And you, Theo. How is your reading? Read anything good since I last heard from you? I believe Severus is almost done with that book you found. Perhaps he'll let you borrow it, yes?_

_Mum, hope everything's well at your work too. Is Tipp doing okay? Is she really having twins? And what about the Freetgix's hippogriff? Is it doing better now you've seen to it? I hope so!  
_

_Dad, is the Ministry going smoothly? That speech you wrote in July…did it help your case on the Chimera import license debate?_

_Hope you all are doing well, including the animals._

_All the best, Wren_

Wren folded the letter up and stowed it in her pocket; she'd send it when they went back to the castle. "Right, so Severus, is…" She trailed off as she looked over at him. He was stretched out on the grass, and sound asleep. As she watched, he rolled onto his side and drew his legs up slightly…now he was in the fetal position, more or less. Wren smiled, and curled up next to him, wrapping an arm around him. He half woke up, and turned to face Wren.

He smiled and yawned, making Wren follow suit seconds later. "Sorry…I dozed off."

"No…It's okay." Wren said, snuggling close to him. She too, closed her eyes, and they both drifted off quickly, sleeping in each other's arms.

* * *

More fluff! YAAY! You like? Me think you like. Me think you should review and tell me just how much you like. Yep yep yep!! 


	23. Chapter 23: The Omen of DOOM

Ehehee!! Next chappie up! Sorry, mates, but I have entered yet another writer's block phase. For some reason, whenever I get really really hung up on one story, I get an idea for a different one...and then after finishing that, I can type this one...how strange is that? Anyhoo, that's what I'm going to do now: do a oneshot fanfic. The sooner that annoying thing goes away, the sooner I'll have an idea, and the sooner I can write the next chapter!! By the by, there's nothing really doomful in this chappie. So breeeathe. :) I just didn't know what to call it...

* * *

Severus felt someone shaking him back into consciousness. Rolling onto his back, he blinked blearily up at the person standing over him. Wren was asleep beside him still, hugging his arm. Tonks smiled at Severus, "Morning sleeping beauty!" 

He rolled his eyes and yawned, "Whatever, Tonks. Is there something you wanted?"

Tonks grinned and shifted the broomstick she was holding to balance it better across her shoulder. "I love waking up people in the middle of naps, that's all." She started walking again, back towards the castle and then paused. "I also might have wanted to let you know that the Marauders are on their way back to the castle for lunch."

Severus paused in the middle of stretching and raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So, James is being really annoying because he made seeker again, Sirius is really mad because he didn't make the team, and Remus' furry little issue is tonight, so he's rather cranky. I figured they wouldn't be too thrilled to find you two all snuggly and asleep, and I figured that you wouldn't be too happy about that either." Tonks grinned and started walking again.

"Wait…" Severus said. Tonks paused again, and turned to look at him. Her hair was the exact mousy brown color that Remus' was, Severus noted. "Thanks Tonks. Umm…did you make your team?"

"Yep! I'm the keeper!" Tonks said brightly, before waving and leaving.

Severus sat for a few long moments staring out across the lake, before he suddenly remembered why Tonks had woken him, and he gently shook Wren awake. "Wake up, you."

"Mmmpthhhbbbllllluuuuuugggg……." Wren said sleepily, rolling away from Severus.

Severus frowned and called louder. "Wren!"

She sat up with a start, "Wha? Who?" She caught sight of Severus and smiled sleepily at him. "Oh…hi." She stretched and yawned widely while Severus forced himself not to laugh. "So…for what reason did you wake me then?"

"They're coming. Tonks woke me and told me." Severus replied.

"They?"

Severus waved his hand impatiently, "James, Sirius, and Remus. I think Lily might be with them too."

"Oh…right." Wren stared at the ground without really seeing it. "Do you want to leave?" She asked after a moment, looking back up at Severus.

"No." Severus said, sitting down next to Wren with finality.

Wren smiled at him and ran her hand through his hair once. It was as soft as ever, and smooth. Severus smirked at her.

Voices drifted across the lake, and looking to the left, the couple saw four figures approaching around the edge. They drew nearer, and finally one called out.

"Wren! Severus! Hi!" Lily reached them first. The others echoed her greeting, and Wren stood up to give them all hugs. Severus watched with mild annoyance as Sirius flashed him a triumphant sort of look as Wren hugged him. _If only you knew._ Severus thought with a small smile.

Severus stood as well, and they all slowly walked up to the castle. "So, what are you all doing for Christmas?" James asked. He pulled a snitch out of his robe pocket, and let it fly a few feet in front of him before grabbing it again. He continued to release the snitch and then grab it again as they walked.

"Well, I'm going on holiday to London with my parents." Lily said, watching as James ninja-ly grabbed the snitch again.

"I'm going to James' with Remus!" Sirius exclaimed happily. He loved it when he could go to his best friends' house over the breaks. It was better than being alone in school or shunned at home. Remus smiled, but as he looked away, the smile faded. He didn't feel too good.

Severus remained silent, until James repeated his question. "Well? What are you doing Snape?"

"Me?" Severus said, blinking. He was still groggy from falling asleep.

"No. The _other_ Severus Snape next to you." James said sarcastically, catching the snitch yet again as it tried to escape his grasp.

Severus glared at him, "I'm…going…" He glanced at Wren. She just raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged slightly. "I'm going to Wren's." He said quickly.

Sirius stared from Wren to Severus, and James almost didn't catch his snitch before it flew away. "You're going where?" Sirius asked.

"To Wren's house." Severus said, determined not to let Sirius get the best of him.

James didn't really seem to care; he went back to catching his snitch. Sirius stared on, dumbstruck. "Why?"

"Because…" Severus was getting really irked by James' snitch. "Because...Look. Will you stop it?" He asked angrily.

James turned to look at Severus. "Why should I?" He countered, releasing the snitch and catching it without even a glance in its direction.

"I'll smash it if you don't." Severus said, pulling out his wand.

James laughed. "You can't. There's a spell on it that won't let you."

Severus smiled serenely. "I meant your transfigured, oversized, annoying ego." He pointed to James' broomstick.

James stared at Severus blankly for a moment, and then looked at his broom, and then looked at Severus' wand. He smiled, then grinned, and then began to laugh. Almost choking, he had to stoop to catch his breath. "That's funny!" He said, "Transfigured ego…" He burst into laughter again. Severus put his wand away, feeling a hot blush covering his face. Wren was smiling widely, as were Remus and Sirius.

They went up to the castle for lunch, and Sirius completely forgot about asking why Severus was going to Wren's for Christmas; Severus wasn't about to remind him.

Later that evening, Severus caught up with Wren just as she reached her common room. "Hey Wren." He smiled at her, but troubled. "Are you going to go with the others tonight?"

"Down to the Shrieking Shack?" Wren asked, and Severus nodded, "No…I'm not an animagus…I might get ripped to shreds." She smiled. "They were going to show me how to do it though, but they said it took a while to learn."

Severus sighed, relieved. "Ah…that's good."

Wren smiled at him, "Oh yeah! I got this just now." She pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket. "It's a letter from mum." Severus stepped closer to Wren and the paper, and lit the tip of his wand so Wren could read it.

"It says: '_My dearest Wren, It's so good to hear from you!_' Yeah, yeah, you always say that…" Wren rolled her eyes, and Severus chuckled quietly. "'_I'm glad Severus is coming with you, but I wish you'd told us more in advance. Winter break is next week! I won't have enough time to do all the tidying up that needs to be doing! Seriously, love, you need to give me more notice!_'" Wren shook her head and sighed, "That's my mom for you."

"'_Severus will take Top's bed, since Top is only coming for Christmas dinner and staying the one night. He's got a full time job at the ministry, and you know how he hates Apparating and Flooing places, so he moved closer to work. Silly if you ask me. Anyways, I've got to run. Things to do, animals to cure…you know. All my love, Mom._'" Wren finished reading and tucked the note back into her pocket.

Severus smiled guiltily, "Are you sure that I'm not imposing?"

Wren flicked the side of his head with a finger and smiled, "NO. I told you."

Severus pushed Wren's hand out of the way as she made to flick him again, and he grinned. "Alright, alright. I guess I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow?"

Wren nodded. "Yep!" She gave Severus a quick hug and kiss, and then left, going upstairs to her dormitory, and Severus went down to his.

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I have but two simple boons to ask of you, my dearest readers: please please review! and, I have a slight issue. I'm really indecisive and can't figure out if I want the Marauders to find out about Wren and Sev before or after Christmas break, because it could be terribly funny and at the same time bad... 

Help me out? Just click that handsome little 'review' button, if you please. Thaaaaaaaaankyooooooou!!::hugs everyone and gives out cookies::


	24. Chapter 24: The Hogwart Express Again

Right, as promised, they'll find out after winter break. Lily or Tonks'll accidentally let it slip or something...I solemnly swear that I shan't harm Sev...too much. ::Evil grin::

As always, thanks so much for reviewing!!

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Breakfast the next moment was slow as normal, but with an extra, odd intensity about it. Everyone had dragged their suitcases down (or in the Slytherin's case, up) to the entrance hall, and had stacked haphazardly everywhere, ready to be taken to the Hogwarts Express.

Wren didn't get a chance to go over and talk to Severus until it was almost time to leave for the Express. "Sorry!" She said as she finally squeezed past everyone coming and going, and reached Severus. "Tonks only had to say goodbye a couple thousand times." Wren smiled, and Severus returned it with a small one of his own.

"All packed then?" Wren asked, lightly punching Severus' arm.

"I was supposed to pack?" Severus replied innocently and in a surprised tone, making Wren laugh.

Wren, Severus, Lily and the Marauders got onto the train without incident, except for a brief complaining about having to share a compartment again (on the boys' parts) with their enemies, and a loud complaining about boys (on the girls' parts). They ended up getting over it, and the journey back to Kings Cross could almost be described as enjoyable.

James and Sirius settled into a silent game of chess, and Remus and Lily got into a discussion about the twelve uses of dragon blood. Wren gazed out at the scenery flashing by, content to watch the world speed by. After a while though, she turned back to Severus after hearing at least six yawns in the past minute and a half from him. "Tired?" She asked, smiling as Severus yawned again.

"Yeah…I didn't sleep well last night." Severus replied, rubbing his face and then looking at Wren.

"Do you want to sleep? We're not going to get to Kings Cross until almost one, and it's only 9 o'clock now." Wren said, after glancing at her watch.

Severus didn't reply, but glanced at the other inhabitants of the compartment uneasily. He clearly still didn't trust them. Wren rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Severus. Do you really think I'd just let them hex you while you were sleeping?"

Severus obviously did, for he smiled sheepishly and went pink. Then he settled back in the seat, and soon fell into a deep sleep, which is saying a lot about Severus, considering that he hardly ever sleeps.

As they turned a particularly sharp turn, Wren felt something bump into her side. Severus had slid so he was sleeping against her. Smiling to herself, Wren wrapped an arm around him and returned to gazing out into space. It was actually one of her favorite things to do: stare around at the scenery and just meditate on whatever came to mind at that particular moment.

A long time passed. The trolley lady came and went twice, both times pushing a considerably lighter trolley away. Wren came out of her latest day-dreaming to see that not only was Severus still asleep, but Lily and James had fallen asleep against each other as well. Sirius was curled up on the seat near the door, looking extremely puppy-dog-like, and also fast asleep.

Remus grinned at Wren, "Ah, the little brats are asleep now. What shall we do first? Marker their faces, or blare really loud music into their ears and watch them scream?" He rubbed his hands together impishly, looking very mischievous.

Wren cackled quietly, "Yes, yes, my pretty! First the marking of their precious little faces, followed by blowing out their eardrums!"

They stared at each other for a long moment, and then had to shove their fists into their mouths to stop their laughter from waking anyone up. Eventually, they calmed down enough to breathe properly.

Remus suddenly whacked his forehead. I forgot! Here…I 'borrowed' this from the library for you." He reached into his robes and pulled out a small, old book. Its leather front was blue, and had golden letters stamped onto it. Remus handed it to Wren, who took it, turning it over in her hands. The letters were hard to read, as they were cracked and faded, but she could just make it out.

"How to Become an Animagus?" Wren said aloud, looking at the book with new wonder.

Remus grinned again and nodded. "Yeah. That's how we learned how to do it. You need to read the book, use the few incantations, meditate like it said, and you have to drink the potions it tells you to brew." Remus smiled, "It's actually rather easy."

Wren glanced up at Remus from the book, "Moony, you know I can't brew a potion to save my life."

Remus raised an eyebrow at her. "Isn't that person sleeping on you one of the most advanced potions students in the school? And isn't he staying over winter break at your house?"

Wren smiled, "You have a very good point." She then dropped her voice, even there was no real need. "D'you think…maybe…" She looked pointedly at Severus, James, and Sirius.

"Do I think they'll ever grow up, get along, and let Severus into our wonderful gang of Marauders?" Remus asked. Wren nodded, smiling. Moony smiled back, "They just might."

"Now, about the Animagi…" Remus started. Wren smiled even wider and opened to the first page of the book he'd given her.

Just as they were getting into the more interesting parts of the book, Wren asked Remus a question that had been bothering her since the others had suggested she become an Animagi like them. "I thought you didn't learn how to do it for three years. By the time I learn, we'll be out of school."

Remus laughed quietly. "Ah, well, actually the becoming an Animagus wasn't really the hard part, like I said. The hardest part was researching it and finding the books to show us how. The actual doing didn't happen for a while, and it only took us three months or so."

Wren nodded, "Oh! That makes sense then."

The lycanthrope grinned, "What can I say? I'm just great at explaining things I guess…" He laughed, and narrowly missed getting whacked in the face with some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

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And this time, for Xevenof7::hands out jellybabies:: Review pwetty pwease! I'll try to do some more tomorrow at school. 


	25. Chapter 25: WREEEENNNNN!

I know, I know. It's too short!! But I've lately been reduced to typing this up in the middle of the night after everyone's gone to bed. I'm going to type some more at school tomorrow though, I swear!! I was gonna update this earlier but for some reason yahoo hated me and wouldn't let me get to my attachments I'd sent myself. GRRR.

Hope you like it!

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By the time the Hogwarts Express reached Platform 9 and ¾, it was just after lunch. Wren had gotten almost halfway through the book about Animaguses, and as Remus had promised, it was simple once you understood what they were talking about.

Wren also made sure that Severus was woken up first. She barely shook him and only muttered his name, and he was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Hallo." Wren greeted with a smile.

Severus smiled back and stretched. Then Remus and Wren woke the others. Lily and James woke up fairly quick, but they had to push Sirius off of the seat to fall onto the floor a foot below before he stirred. With everyone once again in the world of consciousness, they disembarked the train.

There were a few adults directing the student off of the platform, sending them over in groups of 3 and 4. Severus, Lily, and Sirius were sent over together, and Remus, Wren and James came over next. To their surprise, the other three were talking quite civilly together, waiting.

Severus was telling Sirius and Lily a story. "--she said I had a real knack for potions ever since the time I first burnt dad's moustache by mixing brimstone and beetle eyes together."

Sirius laughed, "You burnt your dad?" He asked, as if to make sure he heard Severus correctly.

"His moustache, yeah." Severus replied. Sirius burst out laughing again and raised his arm. It took Severus a moment to realize what he was doing, and quickly hi-fived him.

Lily ducked around the two boys and grinned at Wren. "It's kinda scary…they're behaving…so…so…"

"Un-hateful?" Wren supplied.

Lily laughed, "Yeah, that's the word."

The six talked as they headed outside to the parking lot. When they got there, they said their goodbyes. Wren and Lily gave out hugs everywhere, and Severus nodded to the boys, who returned his motion.

Lily headed off to one part of the parking lot, and the Marauders headed off at a slightly different angle.

Severus glanced at Wren. "Umm…Wren? Where are we going to go?"

Wren blinked, "Hmm? Oh, sorry." She smiled, and then dug into her jacket pocket. They all had worn muggle clothes, so as not to look conspicuous. Wren made a mental note to burn the huge, brown, ugly coat Severus was wearing, as she finally pulled out a map of the county.

"Right…" She said, opening the map and spreading it out on her trunk. "We're…here." She said, pointing to one part of the map. "We have to wait for the muggle bus, which should be here any minute, and that will take us this way…" Wren traced a route northwest with her finger on the map, "To here. My house is here…" Her other hand joined the first one to show a few miles' space between her house and the bus stop.

Severus nodded, waiting for her to go on, but Wren was looking across the parking lot, and down a street, for the bus, presumably. He shrugged to himself, but still thought something was up when Wren glanced at him as she rolled up the map and smiled devilishly. "What?" He asked.

Wren shook her head and answered what any up-to-no-good teenager replies when asked 'what', "Oh, nothing."

Severus grinned and stepped close to Wren wrapping his arms around her waist. "You have no idea how much that answer annoys me."

"I'm sure it annoys you a lot, but you'll have to deal with it." Wren smiled, putting her arms around Severus' neck. Severus just smiled and leaned in to kiss Wren. They almost didn't notice the bus pull up at their stop, and it took them a moment to get their things onto the small double-decker and pay the driver. Somehow they managed it, and this time, Wren was the one to fall asleep during the ride. Severus kept an eye on both her and their things, and checked each stop to make sure they didn't miss theirs.

Eventually the bus emptied and the two Hogwarts students were left alone with the driver on the bus. Severus woke Wren up. "I think our stop is next." Wren sat up and yawned widely, before glancing out of the window.

"Yep. It's next." She replied, kissing him softly on the lips and then blinking tiredly. They exited the bus a minute later, and Wren exchanged a few words with the driver before following Severus outside.

"Right then. This way, Sev." Wren smiled at him, and then grinned as Severus saw what building she was heading for.

"No way." He said as they approached a large blue barn.

Wren just smiled wider, "Honestly Sev. I told you we live out in the country. How else are we supposed to get to my house?"

"You don't have a road leading to your house?" Severus asked incredulously as Wren waved at someone and spoke with them briefly before entering the barn, dragging her case and Severus along with her.

"Nope. Just a dirt track!" Wren said happily. She poked someone else and greeted them, who obviously knew her and was a wizard, for they smiled and shrank their trunks with their wand before waving goodbye and walking away.

Wren picked up their tiny trunks and went into a small room to the side of the stalls as Severus followed her nervously. "You can't be serious though." His question was answered as Wren kicked off her sneakers and pulled on some worn boots. "Wren, you didn't tell me we had to do this because you knew I wouldn't like it."

"Nonsense!" Wren exclaimed, jumping up, tossing Severus some boots, and leaving through another door.

There were two horses waiting on the other side of the back door, saddled up and waiting to go. Wren put the miniscule trunks into the saddlebags of one, and then gave both the horses a hug each, before turning back to Severus. He was angrily pulling on the boots she'd given him. "Wreeeennnnn!" He said in a whiny voice, grabbing her and hugging her tightly.

Wren grinned at him, "Who doesn't like a nice horse ride?" Severus glared at her murderously.

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Eheeehee!! It's okay. Severus is going to turn out being a natural at horseback riding. ::cackles evilly:: Review please? 

::places an arrangement of all sorts of candy and food and puts up a sign reading 'eat all that you want!!'::


	26. Chapter 26: Bran and Boulder

SCORE. I finished! Enjoy it! OO

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Severus glared at Wren even more. Wren just smiled innocently back at him. "Seriously, Sev. It's not that hard."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it's really easy staying seated on a horse that's tearing up the road."

Wren laughed, "We'll take it easy. We won't go fast unless you want to, okay?"

Severus seemed a little comforted by this, and Wren led him over to the two horses waiting for them. "This is Bran, and this is Boulder." She pointed first at a chestnut colored horse with four white socks, and then at a huge, solid grey horse that was munching lazily on some hay.

Severus had never been around horses, but he could easily tell that Bran was female, just from her attitude and size. Boulder was obviously male, and he turned to look curiously at Severus, giving a soft whinny.

Wren laughed, "He likes you. That's good, 'cause you're riding him."

"Good. I like him." Severus went up to Boulder cautiously and patted his neck. Boulder turned and put his nose up into Severus' face. Severus glanced at Wren cautiously, "Is he going to eat me?" He asked, and Wren laughed.

"No. He's just smelling you." She smiled as Severus relaxed. Severus reached up and scratched Boulder between the ears. Boulder drew in a deep breath and then exhaled it slowly, before closing his eyes slightly, enjoying the attention.

Wren meanwhile, was quietly talking to Bran. "I missed you girl." She said, closing her eyes and hugging Bran. Bran obviously felt the same way, because when Wren moved away from her, Bran stepped closer again and tossed her head.

Severus paused in his petting and turned to Wren. "How'd they get here if they're yours?"

"I asked Top and Theo to bring them down for me, so we'd have a way to get there. I figured you didn't want to have to fly."

Severus smiled, "You're right about that."

"I'll be right back, okay?" Wren disappeared back into the barn, and while he was waiting, Severus went over and patted Bran a bit. Boulder followed him as far as his tether allowed, and whinnied.

Severus jumped, turned, and smiled at Boulder. "I didn't forget you." He returned to Boulder's side just as Wren reappeared.

She had a brown paper bag full of stuff, and she set it on the ground. She pulled out two smaller paper bags of food, two water bottles, two apples and some carrots, and a jacket. Packing away their lunches and water in Bran's saddle bags, she tossed the two apples and carrots to Severus. "Put those in Boulder's saddlebags, please!" She smiled at him as he fiddled with the straps and put the food away.

She stood up holding the jacket. It was black, and light but waterproof. It also was exactly the right size for Severus. "Put this on." She gave it to him, and Severus practically ripped his brown one off in favor of the newer one. "It used to be my dad's; I found it in the tack room. I don't think he'll ever use it though…he's gotten too big." She smiled. "That's wind resistant and water proof, so you won't get as cold when we're riding."

"Thanks Wren." Severus gave her a quick hug, and then took a deep breath. "I'm guessing we mount up now?"

Wren nodded, and untied Bran's bridle from the post it was attached to. Severus copied her, and she showed him how to lead Boulder right. They went over to a pile of wood. "Right. Climb up on the wood, and put your right foot in the stirrup." Wren instructed, nodding and smiling as Severus followed her directions. "Then hold onto the saddle and bridle with one hand. You can put your hand there, on the horn. Yeah, there. And now just swing up onto the saddle!"

Severus did, expecting Boulder to take off immediately, the moment his foot left the wood pile. But it was not so. Boulder merely stepped backwards a foot or so, and then held still. He put his foot into the other stirrup, and gripped the reins firmly. Wren smiled at him, "You look like a natural." She said, "But don't put your feet too far into the stirrups. If you fall off and they're stuck in there like that, then you'll be dragged along the ground, and that won't be good. Trust me." Severus nodded, looking paler than usual.

Wren smiled, "It's okay. Boulder's the most laid back horse you could find. He'll only take off on you if you ask him."

Severus nodded again, still looking pale. Wren patted his leg, since she was still on the ground. She led Bran up next to him and hopped onto her without using the wood pile, since Bran was almost a hand (4 inches, for those who don't do horses :) ) shorter than Boulder.

Wren began talking again, "Now pay attention. To get Boulder to move forward, make a clicking noise, and press your legs harder into his sides, like this." Wren demonstrated, and Bran walked forwards smoothly. Wren walked her around in a circle, "Bran and Boulder are neck reined, so you pull one of the reins towards the back of the saddle to get them to turn that way. You can also guide them with just your legs, by pressing only one side. But just concentrate on the reins for now." Wren then stopped next to Severus. "Get it?" She asked, clasping his shoulder.

Severus nodded, trying to relax and smile at Wren, but he just couldn't seem to get his face to function. Wren cupped his chin in her hand and said, "You can do it. Go on." She smiled, and this time, Severus smiled back.

He squeezed Boulder with his knees, and Boulder started walking forwards. Severus then made him turn, just like Wren had down, and went in a perfect circle. He smiled, and then suddenly said, "How do I get Boulder to stop?"

Wren laughed. "I forgot about that. Just pull back on the reins gently." Severus did, and Boulder slowly stopped. Severus smiled triumphantly.

"See? It's not that hard. Now…" Wren proceeded to give Severus instructions on making Boulder go faster, slower, and gave him some tips as well. "Horses can sense your feelings in a way…almost like a vibe, so if you get nervous about something, Boulder will become a bit more jumpy as well. And if you get excited about something, he'll get more excited and revved up too."

Severus nodded, and they both set off down the road, and then turned off onto a small dirt track. After a few minutes, Severus asked, "How far did you say your house was?" Severus' posture was perfect. He was sitting erect, with his eyes fixed ahead, and he wasn't clutching the horn and reins like lifelines like some newbies do.

"It's about three and a half miles." Wren said, smiling. They continued on for about a half a mile, talking about this and that. Eventually, they reached a small hill. "Right. After this hill, the ground is flat, smooth, and straight all the way to my house." Wren said, and Severus nodded. "When we go up the hill, lean forwards a bit to help Boulder up it, and lean back some when we go down." She then grinned, "If you feel like it, when we get to the bottom, we can go faster too."

Severus smiled nervously, and they mounted the hill, and went down the other side. Wren let Severus decide when he wanted to go faster, and as she'd instructed, he clucked to Boulder, nudged him, and said, "Trot," firmly.

Boulder immediately went into a trot, and Wren sped Bran up so they were still level. "It's really bouncy now…" Severus said, wincing slightly.

Wren laughed. "Watch his left leg. When it hits the ground, raise yourself up a bit out of the saddle, and then back down. It'll help. Watch." Wren demonstrated, first sitting like Severus was, and then falling into a rhythm with Bran's footsteps.

After a few tries, Severus got it, and hardly bounced at all in the saddle (which is what one wants). Wren smiled, "Good! Very good. Now, do you want to try the canter?"

Severus was feeling very confident by now, and he nodded. The horses seemed to anticipate their decision, because they started acting giddier. "This is where they might take off." Wren said, shifting her grip on Bran's reins. "So just go with it, and don't yank on the reins. Just pull smoothly and slowly, constantly. If you yank the reins, they'll either go faster, or buck." Severus laughed nervously. "It's okay. The canter and gallop are a lot smoother of a gait than trotting."

Severus and Wren barely had to nudge Bran and Boulder to get them to start racing. Wren yelled loudly, and her and Bran leapt forwards to take the lead. Severus forgot all of his fears as the wind whipped him in the face. "Come on Boulder! Let's get them!" He nudged Boulder more and the grey beast quickened his pace until he was galloping. They passed Wren, and she quickened up Bran's pace to match Boulder's again.

Wren was amazed to see that Severus was riding like he'd done it ever since he was a child. His posture and the way he guided Boulder was almost flawless. "Are you alright?" She yelled to him over the screaming wind.

"Yeah!" He answered, laughing in pure joy.

"Come on then!" Wren waved her hand in the air high and yelled "GO!"

The two horses leapt into an all out sprint, making the trees on either side of them a blur. Severus' and Wren's eyes watered as they raced along the road. They both screamed in ecstasy.

After a few minutes of racing, Boulder and Bran slowed down, going down into a slow trot. Wren brought Bran out of the trot and into a walk, and Severus mimicked her. Wren laughed and ran a hand through her windswept hair. "I haven't raced like that since I last rode with dad." She was grinning from ear to ear, and Severus was smiling even wider.

"My throat hurts from all that screaming and yelling." He remarked, rubbing his throat. Wren grinned. Hooking her reins around the horn of her saddle, she winked at Severus.

"I'm not really supposed to do this. The number one rule is to never let go of the reins, but, whatever." She swung her leg over and spun so she was sitting backwards on the saddle. Taking her time, she dug into the saddlebags and pulled out the water bottles, handing one to Severus.

Then she turned back the right way in the saddle and gulped down half of the bottle's contents. Severus gazed at her. "That was bloody brilliant! Can I do that?" He too took a long draught from his bottle of water.

"If you want to." Wren smiled, "So you like riding then, I take it. Not as bad as it seems?"

Severus punched the air, "It's awesome! Can we go riding every day?"

Wren laughed. "As much as possible." She guided Bran closer to Boulder with her knees, and tossed Severus her reins. "Loop the reins around the horn, okay?" She asked, putting her water bottle away.

"Sure." Severus replied, circling the reins around the horn a few times like Wren had asked, "But why?"

Wren grinned, once again swinging her leg over the saddle. Putting her leg in the wrong stirrup, she stood up, and grabbed Severus' shoulder, before swinging her leg onto Boulder, behind Severus. Then she jumped onto Boulder and wrapped her arms around Severus' waist, and put her chin on his shoulder. Severus laughed and intertwined his fingers with hers. "You're crazy." He said simply.

"I carry that burden with pride." She replied, hugging him even tighter.

Wren rode double with Severus for a little while, and then got back onto Bran. They got to the end of the straight part of the track, and rounded a bend in the path that seemed to take forever to get around.

Wren's house came into view, and Severus smiled, looking around with renewed interest. The house was two stories tall, and was surrounded by trees. Next to the house stood a huge barn (and I mean huge), adjoining some big pastures. There was a small orchard on the other side of the house too.

Severus grinned at Wren, "This is a beautiful place." He looked around again, and saw someone come crashing out of the house, followed by three other someones.

Wren smiled at Severus and hopped off of Bran. Severus dismounted as well, but much less gracefully and fell over. Laughing, Wren helped him up just in time for him to help her up as a small boy tackled her.

"WREN'S HOME!!!" Shouted Wren's brother, Theo, at the top of his lungs, and rather unnecessarily if you ask me.

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MAJOR CLIFFY!!!!! BWAHAHAAAAA!

Anyhoo, I'm going to take this opportunity to do a small bit of self promotion, so here goes! Please read my other Severus fanfiction! I would love you FOREVER AND EVER::sets out jellibabies and cookies and icecream and cheese::

I'd also like to thank everyone who's stuck with me and supported my fanfiction! I love you all so much!! THANKYOU!!


	27. Chapter 27: Tackled By Theo

Hey all! I'm back sooner than I thought. Still kinda out of it, but I think I can survive now. Certain fathers on the other hand...like my own...they might not. But whatever. Enjoy the story! I've decided to put up two chapters at once (or nearly at once), as a sort of apology to you guys. Thanks for sticking with me and being so patient. I love you all!! Anywho...the next few chapters will be pretty normal...but...well...you'll see. My inner self has decided to try and make this a bit more angsty, but not for a while. Any ideas or thoughts are appreciated, as always.

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Theo turned to Severus soon after he'd finished suffocating Wren, and gave him a hug too. Feeling rather awkward, Severus patted Theo on the head and edged away. Theo seemed to accept this, and moved back over to Wren, this time intent on drowning her in questions. Severus stared at the seven year old. _This is the kid that wrote those letters?_ He wondered, remembering how much older Theo sounded in the letters than he did in person.

A hand clasped his shoulder, and Severus turned to see an older wizard smiling welcomingly at him. Glancing at Wren, he ascertained that Theo, her mother, and her older brother Top were currently talking animatedly to her. He looked back at the wizard, but suddenly felt nervous. This was Wren's father. _What if he doesn't like me? What if he doesn't approve?_ He looked quickly at the ground and examined his riding boots, which were suddenly extremely interesting.

Severus hadn't had very good luck meeting nice fathers or father figure. His own dad hated him, and most of his male teachers didn't exactly care for him. Slughorn was like a two headed dog. One minute he was your friend, and the next, wanted to give you detention until you died. So Slughorn didn't count. In fact, one could say that Dumbledore was the only male parental figure he'd ever had, but when he saw Dumbledore was few and far between.

Wren's father noticed Severus seemed uncomfortable, and removed his hand from his shoulder and held it out instead for him to shake. "You must be Severus! I've heard all about you through Wren. I'm Robert, Wren's dad."

Severus glanced at him and smiled a bit. "Nice to meet you Robert." He swallowed rather hard and grasped Robert's hand.

Robert smiled brightly back, and Severus noticed that Wren had inherited her smile from him. For some reason that helped him to relax a bit, and he tried to say something intelligent. "You work in the Ministry…don't you?"

Wren's dad nodded, "That's right. I work in the Department of Magical Creatures…I'm a sort of lawyer for people that have broken the law by keeping dangerous pets, or things along those lines."

Severus blinked, "Wow…that sounds like it would be a hard job."

Robert nodded, "It is! But let's introduce the rest of the family. I think Wren will do the honors." Wren's dad called her over to them, with the rest of her family following. Wren seemed relieved to be able to breathe again, and she grinned widely at Severus.

"Righto…Severus, this is my mom, Allie." She put her arm around her mom's shoulders as she spoke. The first thing that registered in Severus' mind was that Allie was short. She stood almost a whole head shorter than Wren, and only came up to Severus' shoulder. She seemed like a nice enough woman though.

"You've already met da. This is Christopher, my brother." She good naturedly elbowed Top in the stomach, and received a soft, brotherly blow to the head. Severus saw that Wren's brother's figure was like his: tall and skinny. Severus immediately liked him.

"Hey Severus." Christopher clapped Severus on the shoulder. "Just call me Top. It's shorter." Severus nodded, and smiled.

"And this," Wren said ruffling the little boy's hair, "Is Theodore. Theo for short."

Theo crossed his arms and glared at everyone, "I'm always last to be introduced. It sucks."

Wren bent down and whispered something in his ear, and a look of incredulousness came over his face. "Really!?" He asked, now grinning from ear to ear. Wren nodded, and the little kid bounced up and down happily.

Severus raised an eyebrow at Wren, and she winked at him. "Later." She mouthed. He nodded.

"It's nice to meet you Severus." Wren's mother said, "Since you are the guest, you get to decide where to be shown first. Would you like a tour of the grounds, the barn, or the house first?"

Severus blinked. Normally people were shown around the house first, but Allie had given him a choice, and though Severus thought maybe he was over-thinking, but she had listed the house last. Perhaps that meant that Wren's family preferred the outdoors? He took a gander at that thought, and chose the barn.

Wren smiled, "Wonderful! Come on!" She grabbed his hand and led him towards the gigantic barn.

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So...what think you? 


	28. Chapter 28: The Barn

Tried to make this one a bit more humorous. Hope it worked. This was at around one in the morning, so...hope it isn't too bad. Isn't it weird though? Personally, I think I write better when I'm half asleep...

Also, my previous chapter has been changed from the unhappy announcement into chapter 27, so if you haven't already figured that out and gone back to read it, you should.

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Severus learned many things in the short distance's walk to the barn. One: Wren was extremely happy to see her family again. She couldn't stop bouncing around. Two: Top was rather klutzy. He tripped twice over nothing but air, and kept randomly stumbling and losing his balance. Three: Wren's parents were very crazy. Obviously. But in a good way. And once again lastly, Fourth: That Theo and Wren were like twins. Only they were nine years apart in age.

Wren seemed even more excited when they entered the barn. She ran ahead of the group and vaulted over a wooden fence with the grace of many year's practice. A strange sound came from the other side of the enclosure, and Wren almost fell over in her haste to bow to the maker of the sound. Moments later, she leapt back into a standing position and threw herself against a huge half-eagle, half-horse creature.

It took Severus less than a second to register that this was indeed, Stoneears or Stoney, the hippogriff. He smirked as he watched the gigantic hippogriff prance around and around Wren and as she hugged and patted him. Although…he looked a lot bigger than in the pictures…

"Sev! Bet you can guess who this is!" Wren had finally come back over to his side of the fence, with Stoney looking extremely upset about that fact on the opposite side.

"Is it…a man eating turnip?" He asked, frowning in a serious thinking way. Wren rolled her eyes and Severus grinned. "It's Stoney."

Wren smiled, "Yep! And this," She moved over to the other side of the barn, in front of which was a tethered hippogriff. "This is Tipp."

Severus seemed confused. "Why's she tethered and Stoney isn't?"

Wren leant closer to Severus, grinning. "Because Stoney isn't pregnant and doesn't have huge mood swings that can tear off your face."

"Oh."

They moved on in their tour of the barn, Wren showing him their six horses and then the tack room, the feed room, and the loft. The tack room was rather haphazard, and made Severus feel really dizzy trying to figure out what went with what and the difference between this and that. He gave up soon. The feed room was more organized, and Severus liked it. It smelled sort of like a potions classroom to him, with the smells of molasses, bran, grain, alfalfa, and cob mixing together in different ways. The loft though, was by far his favorite part of the barn. It was up a huge ladder, above everything else, and had hay EVERYWHERE. He sneezed a few times, which made Wren giggle. There were big piles next to smaller piles, and Theo demonstrated that it was possible to scramble up one side of the large piles and leap into the smaller ones. The way down from the loft unnerved Severus a bit. There was an old, unused hay wagon on one side below the loft, that was filled with a large pile of hay. Wren told him it was tradition to jump down onto it instead of climbing back down the ladder.

"You're joking." Severus groaned as he was told about this rather queer tradition.

"No, I'm not." Wren replied, motioning towards the edge.

"C'mon!" Theo piped up, "It's fun!"

Severus backed away nervously from the edge. "Jumping off of hay to land in more hay six feet below I can do. But not twenty feet!"

Wren smiled, "Fine. I guess I'll just have to fall by myself with no one to catch me." She stepped to the edge…and walked right over it.

Severus squeaked and ran over to the edge. Looking down, he could see Wren right below him, lying on the hay in the cart. She smiled up at him and waved, before getting up and hopping out of the cart. "Come on!" She called.

Severus shook his head. "No way in hell. You're insane."

Wren's family laughed, except for Theo. Wait. Theo hadn't been quiet since they'd arrived. Severus turned around to see where the kid had gotten to, just in time to see a devilish grin plastered on Theo's face. Theo then deemed it the right moment to step forwards and push Severus over the edge, which sort of worked. He lost his balance, regained it but overcompensated, overcompensated again, and fell off the edge anyways.

He tried not to scream. He REALLY did. But he couldn't help it. When he dared to open his eyes, he was safely encased in hay, and was being pulled out by Robert. He nodded briefly to him, and turned to see Top smirking, Wren's mom smiling widely, and Wren doubled over laughing. She was clutching her stomach and Severus glared at her.

"THAT WASN'T FUNNY."

"Y-yes it…wa-was…" Wren choked out, unable to breathe properly. She took a few deep breaths, glanced up at Severus, and dissolved into laughter again. Severus looked at her disgustedly.

"Your face…" Wren managed again, and fell apart once more.

Severus looked murderous. "I don't like heights, okay?"

Wren looked up, startled. "You never told me that." The shock momentarily stopped the flow of giggling.

"Yeah…well…I don't. I don't mind the height, I just mind the thought, OR action," At this point, Severus glared at Theo, who didn't seem to care, "of falling from the height."

Wren nodded, but couldn't help grinning again. "Sorry."

Severus couldn't help it either. Wren's smile was infectious, and he'd caught the disease. "No you're not."

"I am."

"Aren't."

"AM."

"AREN'T."

Wren decided on a new approach. "Well then, what if I was?"

"You weren't."

"AAAGGGGG!!! SEEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVV!!!!" Wren hugged him fiercely.

Severus smiled again at the reaction he'd provoked.

"Okay…so maybe you are…" He agreed grudgingly, hugging her back.

"I think we should go show Severus around the house eventually…" Top said, and everyone, much to Severus' surprise, groaned.

"Later." Wren said. Quickly, before anyone could say anything else, she said, "I've gotta take care of Bran and Boulder."

Robert nodded and smiled, "That's right. Well, I'll see you in a bit. I've actually got some paperwork I need to fill out."

Top and Theo followed him outside, but Allie hung back. "It's great to have you here Severus. It really is." She smiled at him, then turned to Wren. "While you're at it dear, would you mind feeding everyone?"

"That's cool." Wren smiled.

Allie embraced her daughter, "It's great to see you again, my dearest." Then she hurriedly walked away, trying to discreetly wipe her eyes with her sleeve as she went.

Wren grinned at Severus and led him back outside to Bran and Boulder, and then they returned inside where they commenced to unsaddle them. Severus took one look at the saddle and all of its many buckles and turned to Wren.

"Help me, my Potions failure." He said, grinning. At the look Wren gave him, he quickly improvised on it. "My Potions failure and unsaddling saviour."

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Just noticed...that last line ryhmed! WOOT!! I may be a poet after all. ;) 

I think you should review and tell me how I did. You really should.

Pleeeease!??


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